Why does a base have to be symmetrical in design?

I have seen this as a point in many base design guides (no one makes it compulsory, but stress it highly).

A symmetrical base is equally strong on all sides, but also is equally weak on all sides. In fact, by making base asymmetrical, an attacker is forced to think faster about all sides in those 30 seconds, rather than just focussing on one side (because all other sides are similar).

Another point can be the circular range of turrets, but unless the building is dead centered, this point doesn't hold.

so, why this stress on symmetry?

Most people are just OCD about having everything equal. And it doesn't take a good player more than a few seconds to figure out where the weak spot on a base is.

agreed, but for most of the average players, an extra 5 seconds can prove the difference between him choosing the weakest side from the stronger.

by turret, do you mean mortar?

A good attacker will not take all 30 seconds to figure out the best point to enter an asymmetric base. Even a symmetric base can't be 100% symmetric since you can't put both the clan castle and DE Storage in the direct middle of the base, they must lean to one side or another.

Anyway, no one is forcing you to make your base symmetric and there have been many successful asymmetric designs. At the end of the day, most symmetric designs look cleaner, and hold up better than most asymmetric designs.

If there is a CLEAR weaker side in an asymmetric design, that weakness can be exploited for more resources or trophies by a smart attacker. Non-centred CC troops can be lured, it's just almost always not as strong overall compared to a symmetirc base. Almost always.

Actually, the symmetry or the lack of it doesn't really matter as much as to what type of player you want to be safe against most of the time: John the occasional player or The Player.

If you want to keep your stuff protected against the occasional players, who apparently can't be bothered to test for possible traps and prefer to dump troops in without thinking for a second and hoping for the best, then you should be fine either way. Take a look at Clash of Clans Rat Trap's YouTube channel and see how many fall in his obvious trap, jumping head ahead.

If you want to keep your stuff safe against the other type of players, then it matters. Make no mistake into thinking that they won't take the 30 seconds before the battle starts to scrutinize your layout and look for a weak spot. This type of players take their time to analyze things, test for obvious traps and most important take calculated risks.

Take shlomi for instance, who's is one of my favorites players mainly cos he posts on his YouTube channel high quality attacks. If you watch his attacks you will get the impression that the symmetry doesn't matter much when a skilled player finds you. ;)

For me, I think symmetry provides consistent results on D. With an asymmetrical design, you can have varied results, depending on which way the attacker comes from. I'm just more comfortable having equal defensive coverage on all sides, as I think it makes for better overall d.

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Originally Posted by hawdog

by turret, do you mean mortar?

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A turret is anything that shoots. So all defensive structures, except walls and bombs/traps :)

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Originally Posted by hawdog

A good attacker will not take all 30 seconds to figure out the best point to enter an asymmetric base. Even a symmetric base can't be 100% symmetric since you can't put both the clan castle and DE Storage in the direct middle of the base, they must lean to one side or another.

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My understanding was that with a symmetrical design, all an attacker needs to think is 'how' to attack. Without symmetry he possibly has to think of this 'how' multiple times, consuming precious seconds.

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Originally Posted by hawdog

If there is a CLEAR weaker side in an asymmetric design, that weakness can be exploited for more resources or trophies by a smart attacker. Non-centred CC troops can be lured, it's just almost always not as strong overall compared to a symmetirc base. Almost always.

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Not really sure how you concluded that 'almost always' this will be the case. A smart attacker can exploit the apparent weakness which might have been intentionally designed by the defender to lure people to one side compared to another (obviously except the really really smart ones, for whom either way would be doable).

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Originally Posted by cezarica

Actually, the symmetry or the lack of it doesn't really matter as much as to what type of player you want to be safe against most of the time: John the occasional player or The Player.

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Agreed to that. 'The Player' can understand and shred all kinds of designs and plan an attack. So, we can't really defend against him. So, the idea is to design the base for not-so-skilled players who might get confused deciding between various options and either skip or make a wrong distance (or maybe a chancy right decision).

Anyhow, thanks to both of you for the inputs. Much appreciated. I will try to watch those recommended channels soon and hopefully learn new tricks.

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Originally Posted by panmaya

I have seen this as a point in many base design guides (no one makes it compulsory, but stress it highly).

A symmetrical base is equally strong on all sides, but also is equally weak on all sides. In fact, by making base asymmetrical, an attacker is forced to think faster about all sides in those 30 seconds, rather than just focussing on one side (because all other sides are similar).

Another point can be the circular range of turrets, but unless the building is dead centered, this point doesn't hold.

so, why this stress on symmetry?

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Well symmetrical bases are appealing to the eye and if you stagger asymmetrical traps around the base, they work very well, especially with funneling. While a symmetrical base, though, makes all sides of your base equally strong, it makes it equally weak as well, so an attacker CAN get the result from any side of the base.

Ppl are ocd

I prefer asymmetry not only in bases, but in the real world; design, art, etc. I always find it more aesthetically pleasing. Whether it is more or less effective as a base strategy is a different issue, of course.

One thing on the plus side for asymmetry in your base design, is that more variety in attacks against you means you might actually learn more about what works and what doesn't. If you lose a bit more, at least you are building your knowledge of game mechanics faster. If you are like me and feel like there's still a ton more to learn, that's a net gain in the long run.

On top of that, I just find it more fun to watch replays against my base, since no one approaches it in the same way. Fun trumps trophies every time, in my book.