Here are some FAQ related to base designing. Feel free to ask more questions!
General design:
Why do some people not defend their town hall?
These people are farmers. Rather than having someone steal their loot, attackers destroy their town hall, and often leave the loot alone.
Why do some people leave compartments open?
This is called funneling. It usually is meant to divert giants away from the important defenses, and make them walk over spring traps.
Why is symmetry important?
Having a symmetrical base makes it even, so there are no weak spots. It also makes it look better. there are two kinds of symmetry- rotational, and normal. Normal symmetry is when two sides of the base are mirrored versions of eachother. Rotational symmetry is when each side is the same, but turned 90 degrees.
Which buildings should be inside walls, and which shouldn't?
Generally, defenses and storages should go inside. For a trophy hunting base, the town hall is also usually inside walls. A few collectors can also go inside, if there's room.
Is it a good idea to copy top players' bases?
It is almost never a good idea to copy a top player's base, unless you're a top player. Their bases are made to defend against the common strategies used in the champions league. Strategies like GoWiWi, And GoWiPe aren't common in the lower leagues.
How many compartments should a base have?
There isn't really a set number. Generally the core should have 4-9 buildings, and the other compartments should have 2-4. It really depends on your town hall level.
Why do some people have holes in their base?
These are called spawn holes. They make you want to attack from the inside, but there are traps, and a lot of defenses so it's usually really hard to attack from the middle. I rarely attack from inside a base.
What buildings should I protect in walls?
Generally, Defenses and storages are inside walls. For a pushing base, the town hall is as well. Sometimes, a few collectors can go in, if there's extra room.
When I go from hunting to farming, should I switch the town hall with the lab?
No. When you do this, you are basically wasting a 4x4 square in the middle of your base. Instead, if your town hall was centered, put your clan castle there. Then, maybe put a storage in the place of the clan castle.
Defenses (And the cc):
Why should the clan castle be in the middle of your base?
This makes it so it's hard to lure. Luring clan castle troops is when someone draws them into a corner, and kills them. They aren't very effective this way because they can be killed easily, so it's always good to centralize your clan castle. Even if the clan castle is empty, it can be good in the middle of your base. This is because the attacker (especially if he's a high level player) could try to lure it, and waste 10-15 seconds trying to lure it.
What troops are best in the clan castle?
Archers are the most common, because they're cheap, and fast to make. The best troops IMO are archers, wizards, Valkyries, dragons, and minions.
Where should I put my heroes?
Heroes aren't the best at defense, so unless they are centered like the clan castle, I would just put them with the barracks and collectors, and have them sleep. Heroes can get damaged on defense, and it can be annoying coming back into CoC and finding your heroes got hurt. Currently my queen is defending, and centered, but my king is sleeping, and on the edge on my base. Heroes can be good, even if they aren't perfectly centered; it detours the attacker to just snipe your town hall (or not attack) and they can take time to lure and kill.
Why are triangled/squared mortars, ADs, ect. Important?
Having your defenses in a triangle (for 3), or a square (4), makes them even. Even defenses are usually good, and make your base symmetrical.
What defenses are best in the core?
Generally, at town hall 8 and lower, the best defenses for the core are mortars, cc, barb king (sometimes), air defense (sometimes), and on occasion, the wizard tower.
At town hall 9 and higher, The best defenses are usually mortars, air defenses, x bows, inferno towers, and the cc. Heroes can sometimes be in the core as well.
For a high level trophy hunting base, ATs and cannons are sometimes in the core.
At any town hall level, I prefer not to keep mortars in the core, and if I do, it's usually only one.
What should I do with upgrading defenses?
Usually, people switch them with a collector. Try to put them in a place where they will attract giants effectively. With an anti hog base, where there is a ring of defenses, don't do this.
What is splash good for?
Splash is great against hoards of enemies. A mortar can kill a group of archers in one hit, as long as the level of the mortar is the same as, or more than the archer level.
Walls:
What's an x-junction?
An X-junction is when 4 compartments are connected with a single wall. That wall would be connected to four other walls. This isn't a good idea, because if that one wall breaks, four compartments are open. A T-junction is when only 3 compartments are attached with a wall. Here is a picture showing this concept.
Are double walls a good idea?
No. Wall breakers can easily destroy two layers in one hit. If you want two layers, space them one block apart.
Can obstacles or the edge of the map be used as walls?
no. Neither can buildings.
Resources:
Why is separating storages important?
This makes it harder to get all of your storages. Having them in the same compartment can be easy to get with gob/rage.
Traps:
Where should air traps be?
Generally, they are best behind the first line of defense. This way, they can be triggered early on (and hopefully ruin the raid), but one minion can't detonate an air bomb. (The one minion strategy is common to test for air bombs)
Where should spring traps be?
Firstly, spring traps are best vs. giants.
If you have funnels, spring traps are great there. IMO, the absolute best spring trap placement is when you have a two-defense funnel, and put the spring trap behind the first defense. This way, placing one giant won't detonate it. If you don't have funnels, just watch replays and see where giants often go.
Where should small bombs be?
I like placing them where archers often group together. Small bombs are great against archers. If you watch some replays of your base, then you will probably be able to see where archers go.
Where should giant bombs go?
One thing to do with giant bombs is to just place them where troops often go. With an anti hog base, duel-giant bomb areas in between defenses work great. One thing to do is to place them in front of storages, so archers and goblins die.
Should I use giant bombs and seeking air mines while I farm?
It really depends on if it will save you however much gold they cost. For example, if you spend 12500 gold on a giant bomb, and it saves you from loosing 50K gold, then it's worth it. However, if it doesn't save you that much gold, then it's not worth it. I use them, but they are near the middle, so if they do get triggered, the attacker would probably have gotten my loot anyway.
Extra buildings:
Should I put my collectors, barracks, spell factory, ect. Right up against my walls, or space them a few blocks away?
This really depends on your kind of base. For a trophy hunting base, it's usually best to have them close to the walls, because it makes it harder to get 50%. For a farming base, it's really up to you. Having them close makes it so that the troops usually get damaged while they're attacking those buildings, and having them far makes it so it's a lot harder to direct troops, and get them to go where the attacker wants (usually the loot or town hall).
Should I protect the DE drills?
Usually, if I have extra room in my base, then I do. They are the first extra buildings i protect. After them, if there's more room, I do the gold mines.
Why do some people leave builders huts in the corner?
This makes it less likely for someone to get three stars against them. At the end of the battle, the troops will have to go all around the edge to get the last few percent. The drawback is that if the attacker puts troops by the huts at the beginning, they will get a few percent for free. This strategy is most practical at town hall 6 and lower.
Decorations:
Do decorations push back the spawn point?
no. It is good, however, to place them as if they did, because some people see them, and don't realize their troops can spawn there.
Is there any point in decorations?
Not really. Some people don't know that you can spawn on them, so it will fool their minds I guess, but technically they don't do anything. Flowers actually do funnel troops a bit. Used right, you can funnel with these. They can also assure people that there are no traps by your town hall, so they're more likely to snipe it.
