[GUIDE] How to become an ELITE FARMER

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I'm re-making my guide to try to go in-depth a little more and bring in a few points I've discussed in a recent thread.
My other Farming Thread can be closed, I will edit the OP out to /Thread.
Hope ya'll enjoy!

Table of Contents

Introduction
Knowing Your Cost
Army Composition
What kind of base to find
Should I attack or skip
How to attack the base
Completing the raid
The Importance of a Farming Base
Tips N' Tricks
Pay It Forward

1: Introduction

This guide was created to help members of the GroundsFamily who are not expert farmers. This guide is intended to help everyone who reads it, regardless of their TH level. I've spent quite a bit of time on this thread, a rate and bump on the thread telling me how I've done will be amazingly appreciated and all criticism will be taken constructively to improve this guide.
Thank You!

2: Knowing Your Cost

Here I am going to discuss what you need to know before you even consider farming. Knowing the cost of what you have BEFORE you start finding a base is the most important key in farming. You don't want to hit a big jackpot raid of 800k combined, only to find out it's costed 600k in elixir to raid him.

So, after reading Step #3, find out what your army composition costs(INCLUDING SPELLS) and memorize that.
If you fail to do so, It will hurt you in the end.

3: Army Composition

Army Composition is also very important. This is a subject that can be disputed between a lot of farmers. However, any true farmer will tell you that BARCH is the fastest, and cheapest, method of farming.

Depending on your TH and how many barracks you have, I've found the best composition is training 24/7 of 2 Barracks of barbarians, 2 Barracks of Archers - AKA - BARCH

After you train your army, find out about how much it costs. I usually add 2-3k on top of that number to counter for extra archers or extra barbs depending on training time since barbs train faster than archers.

4: What kind of base to find

The point of BARCH Is to find Collector Raids, So before you go any further - Make sure you know what a full collector looks like compared to a not full collector!

http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...g/138px-E1.png http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...g/120px-E2.png http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...g/138px-E3.png http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...g/131px-E4.png http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...g/127px-E5.png

Empty Low Half Almost Full Full

http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...g/133px-G1.png http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...g/134px-G2.png http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...g/121px-G3.png http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...g/148px-G4.jpg http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...g/128px-G5.png

Empty Low Half Almost Full Full

So, If the collectors are nice and full and there's enough resources to pay for your army + a nice gain, go for it!

5: Should I attack or skip

Finally, once you've figured out how many resources there are, and where they are in the base, you need to make the decision to attack or not. In the end, it is up to you to determine if the Risk vs Reward makes a base worth attacking, or if you should keep looking for another base.

Risk Factors Reward Factors

How many troops will you have to deploy? How many resources are available in total?

Chance they have clan castle troops?* How many resources are easy to steal?

If they do have CC troops, are they in a good spot? Or can you draw them out easily? Are there collectors you can pick off for free? How much is in them?

Chance of hidden Teslas? (TH7 and above) Exposed or semi-exposed storage(s)?

Look for tombstones indicating clan castle troops may have already been killed in a prior attack.

Use all of the above steps to determine the risk/benefit of attacking a particular base. You can ‘scan’ the base in 10 to 30 seconds quite easily. Are you getting close to the end of the 30 seconds? Just let the 30 seconds run out! If you don’t deploy troops, you can still click “End Battle” without taking a loss. Use the extra time to determine if you actually want to attack the base or not. Remember, once you deploy troops, you can't 'Undo'!

(For Source of "Should I attack or not?" Click Here)
Keep in mind, After that 30 seconds, You are running out on Battle Time!

6: How to attack the raid

So, How do you use BARCH? It's pretty simple. Your Archers are the DPS(Dmg per second) and your Barbarians are the tanks(aka Meat Shields). Why not use giants as tanks? Takes too long. Don't do it. Use Barbarians.

Now, What you want to do is attack a side of the base where there are Almost full-Full collectors, drop a line of Barbarians to take damage away from Archers, Then drop some Archers for some DPS. Right After you drop a few Archers, drop about 3-5 More barbarians if the collectors are not gone yet and barbarians have died. The last thing you want is for your Archers to die before the collectors are raided! Then, Rinse and repeat.

A few things to look out for:

Clan Castle
Heroes(Barbarian King / Archer queen)
Inferno Towers
Missing Resources Graphical Glitch(Not 100% sure if this was fixed yet or not)

Missing Resources Graphical Glitch

The missing resources graphical glitch is, as my name for it implies, a glitch where a 100% full elixir collector or gold mine can appear as empty. Often when the glitch occurs, well more than half of the collectors will appear as empty. Sometimes all will appear as empty. When attacked, however, it will reward the correct amount of the resource, along with the accompanying animation which shows lots of elixir bubbles/gold coins pouring out.

You can detect this glitch quite easily once you've trained yourself to look for it. If there is one collector or mine that is full, and then several that are empty right next to it (and they're all the same or nearly the same level) it is quite easy to tell that the graphical glitch is occurring. You can also look at the storage and if they appear in the 'empty or nearly empty' graphical representation, and yet there is a TON of resources available to be stolen, the resources are likely to be in the collectors and mines yet invisible due to this glitch. Alternative (and harder) ways to detect it include looking for signs of abandonment, such as lots of uncollected tombstones.

(For the Source for Missing Resources Graphical Glitch and Collector Pictures Click Here)

7: Completing the raid

Completing the raid is quite simple, just take resources, hit 1 star and leave right? WRONG.

This topic is one people will argue about, and it is justifiable both ways. So I will explain mine.

When you're farming for resources, Trophies should not be a priority. Resources should. This is 1 mistake that
I've seen farm too many people make. Everyone complains about loot, and it's because everyone farms differently, and most wrong.

When you are farming, ideally you want to get all the resources and leave before hitting 40%. Why? The possibility of seeing him again, or the possibility of a friend seeing him. However, This doesn't apply to all raids.. If you see a raid with 800k, or 700k, or maybe even 600k combined, It would be more beneficial to raid loot and leave. The chances of him, or one of your friends who are actively farming finding him is greater than people think. When you hit 40%, they get a shield, and that removes him from farmable bases. Doing so, means less loot for not only you, but your clan members! I've seen it happen first hand, It's not an every day thing - But when people are stressing for loot, that 1 base for an extra 600k to one of your mates is worth giving up 15 trophies for. Especially when you can TH snipe them back!

8: The Importance of a Farming Base

Make A Farming Base! Head on over to ClashofClansBuilder and find a good Farming Base.
There are quite a few reasons why you want to have a Farming Base. Here they are;

Resource Storages are protected better
Town Hall is outside to give Trophy Pushers free trophies, and you a free 12 hour shield
Less Resources are stolen from you!

I cannot name how many times I've sniped a TH in the last 3 days while trophy pushing, Literally hundreds. They
put their TH outside because they don't want to lose resources, So I give them a shield, they give me trophies. This is a win for Trophy Pushers AND YOU! DO IT!

I also cannot name how many times I've had my TH sniped and saved TONS of resoures, Especially Dark Elixir!

9: Tips N' Tricks

Here are a few things to look out for when farming:

Storages near edge of base

no builders working

gravestones(indicates that traps are not rearmed because of a recent attack)

no shield(look at top left to see his league, if no shield - he's been inactive for a few days)

unsemetrical side of base(tends to have no traps on the smaller side)

unloaded inferno tower

gravestones may also indicate no clan castle troops

Before choosing a league to farm, find out what league's win bonus will pay for your army!
Then, the only thing you have to do is 1 star, and any resources you get are 110% pure profit!!!

If this guide helps even just 1 person, I will be happy!

10: Pay It Forward

Pay it forward! Give me all your google codes! Haha. J/k
You want to pay it forward? Give this thread a like, a comment, and help other people see it!

Got any submissions to add? PM them to me and I will see where they can be added. Try to include as much detail and pictures as possible!

Thanks everyone!

BF3ISBOSS has uploaded a video on youtube to show you
Just how effective BARCHing is, not only at lower-mid TH but at TH9!

Also shows Battle log live on video to show you its profitable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzJGdQoTGAs

June 23rd, 2014
Concussions

Didn't you already do something like this, or was it a different guide. Also more images or video clips would help new members alot more
June 23rd, 2014
NeuralFusion

Quote:

Originally Posted by Concussions

Didn't you already do something like this, or was it a different guide. Also more images or video clips would help new members alot more

Read the beginning of my OP xD

But yes, I did, and apologize for creating a new thread.

The Edit function was messing up and wouldn't let me save, so I just re-created it.

I will work on trying to add more pictures, but I'm not sure what else I really need to explain.
If you really want to improve farming, reading everything in this thread is quite important. So they
should get the point =]
June 23rd, 2014
enOehT

Quote:

Originally Posted by Concussions

Didn't you already do something like this, or was it a different guide. Also more images or video clips would help new members alot more

maybe try actually reading the little letters that are in the post before commenting on it. seems you reply to each and every thread with an equally useless post.

congratulations, CoC Forum Buzzkill!

EDIT: To OP, thanks for this! The more farming tutorials the better, FARM ON!
June 23rd, 2014
Concussions

Quote:

Originally Posted by enOehT

maybe try actually reading the little letters that are in the post before commenting on it. seems you reply to each and every thread with an equally useless post.

congratulations, CoC Forum Buzzkill!

EDIT: To OP, thanks for this! The more farming tutorials the better, FARM ON!

So i'm the buzzkill, Yet your starting a argument? Please. if you want to argue take is to private message. Move along junior.
June 23rd, 2014
LordAmbreon

Nice guide... What do you find is a good trophy range atm?
June 23rd, 2014
MrScribbler

It's a good guide for barching, but knowing how to barch well doesn't automatically make you an elite farmer. First off, barchers are some of the most likely people to find inconsistent loot, since they're so reliant on inactives for loot. Other, more flexible strategies that allow attackers to hit either storages or collectors make attackers less vulnerable to fluctuations in the availability of full mines/collectors.

Also, while barch (or bam) is probably the best farming strategy if you're farming for 10 hours straight, many people don't have that kind of time. For example, I prefer a 40 minute army that lets me attack and then log off for half an hour to do other things, and while I'm not an elite farmer, I've done a pretty good job of pulling in loot. If you could do similar guides for a few other strategies, it would offer your members and forumers the option to pick the strategy they think they're best suited for, which will probably make them better farmers.
June 23rd, 2014
jerkiejerx

Comprehensive guide. Thanks
June 23rd, 2014
junyab

I dislike it when people say BARCH is the fastest farming army to train when BAM destroys it by a good 7-8mins.
June 23rd, 2014
Ytiev

Quote:

Originally Posted by junyab

I dislike it when people say BARCH is the fastest farming army to train when BAM destroys it by a good 7-8mins.

Yea BAM is quicker but some people don't want to spend any DE at all when they're farming
June 23rd, 2014
GADpls

Disagree Entirely

With one point. You say leave before you hit 40%, which is a terrible idea. ALWAYS give inactives a shield before ending the battle. It's a small 12 hour wait, and when it comes back, there will be 36k more in each collector assuming it is max level. If nothing else, it is simply more exciting to find a 300k as opposed to a 240k. Here I am accounting for time when the village is off its shield and not being attacked
June 23rd, 2014
NeuralFusion

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrScribbler

It's a good guide for barching, but knowing how to barch well doesn't automatically make you an elite farmer. First off, barchers are some of the most likely people to find inconsistent loot, since they're so reliant on inactives for loot. Other, more flexible strategies that allow attackers to hit either storages or collectors make attackers less vulnerable to fluctuations in the availability of full mines/collectors.

Also, while barch (or bam) is probably the best farming strategy if you're farming for 10 hours straight, many people don't have that kind of time. For example, I prefer a 40 minute army that lets me attack and then log off for half an hour to do other things, and while I'm not an elite farmer, I've done a pretty good job of pulling in loot. If you could do similar guides for a few other strategies, it would offer your members and forumers the option to pick the strategy they think they're best suited for, which will probably make them better farmers.

It is not just for BARCHing, I suggested BARCH only because I use it and have NEVER found "inconsistent loot"

Quote:

Originally Posted by junyab

I dislike it when people say BARCH is the fastest farming army to train when BAM destroys it by a good 7-8mins.

BARCH is considered the fastest and cheapest because not everyone can use minions. Keep in mind, this isn't for just TH7+ people.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GADpls

With one point. You say leave before you hit 40%, which is a terrible idea. ALWAYS give inactives a shield before ending the battle. It's a small 12 hour wait, and when it comes back, there will be 36k more in each collector assuming it is max level. If nothing else, it is simply more exciting to find a 300k as opposed to a 240k. Here I am accounting for time when the village is off its shield and not being attacked

So, You are saying that giving 40% to the base is better?

First off, who says your going to find that base 12 hours later?
Secondly, What's an extra 36k for 12 hour wait when you can get nearly the same amount you just raided in
only a matter of minutes?
June 23rd, 2014
thenextman

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeuralFusion

BARCH is considered the fastest and cheapest because not everyone can use minions. Keep in mind, this isn't for just TH7+ people.

BAM is faster and barch is not necessarily the best. Depends on how many collector raids you encounter.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeuralFusion

First off, who says your going to find that base 12 hours later?
Secondly, What's an extra 36k for 12 hour wait when you can get nearly the same amount you just raided in
only a matter of minutes?

Giving them a shield means that you or anybody else is not going to encounter them for another 12 hours when their collectors are empty.
June 23rd, 2014
NeuralFusion

Quote:

Originally Posted by thenextman

BAM is faster and barch is not necessarily the best. Depends on how many collector raids you encounter.

Giving them a shield means that you or anybody else is not going to encounter them for another 12 hours when their collectors are empty.

Yes, BAM is faster - but what TH5 do you know that can do BAM? Therefore BAM was NOT used as a suggestion.
This thread, like i've said already, is targeted to the general farmer.

An experienced player who reaches TH7 and can use BAM will learn about it before that point comes. Therefore I did not mention.

Giving them a sheild does exactly what you said. But we do NOT want that to happen if they have 600k+ loot, because that means you have a chance of finding them again with 500k+ loot

The people complaining about loot are the ones who make sure to 40%+ someones base, and knock the 600k+ raids out of the matchmaking system.
June 23rd, 2014
Kujin

Nice thread. Good info in this guide
June 23rd, 2014
NeuralFusion

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kujin

Nice thread. Good info in this guide

Thanks :)

I appreciate the good feedback, and criticism as well. Helps explain to people who don't fully understand a bit better.

Remember guys, If you want to add an addition to the thread- send me a PM with what it is you wish to add and I'll see where it can fit in.

Thanks
June 23rd, 2014
Dude4

Great guide!
June 23rd, 2014
nikkisixx101

well who barches before th7? even with lvl 4 troops it can be pretty hard to get 50% with barch. Barching comes into it's own at th8+ with lvl 5 troops and is certainly useable at th7 but it is by no means the best farming strategy. at th7 you get the huge jump to 200 troop space wich makes the strategy more viable and it gets really useful at lvl 5+ troops. a 135 space th5 with lvl 2 troops needs some giants and stuff mixed in their.
June 23rd, 2014
NeuralFusion

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikkisixx101

well who barches before th7? even with lvl 4 troops it can be pretty hard to get 50% with barch. Barching comes into it's own at th8+ with lvl 5 troops and is certainly useable at th7 but it is by no means the best farming strategy. at th7 you get the huge jump to 200 troop space wich makes the strategy more viable and it gets really useful at lvl 5+ troops. a 135 space th5 with lvl 2 troops needs some giants and stuff mixed in their.

Who uses barch before TH7?

I bought all 5 builders at TH1. I used barch from TH1 to TH6, then did sub200 farming all of TH6, and back to BARCH for TH7.

I can name several people who barch before TH7 with very high success
June 23rd, 2014
Meredragoon

Nice article.
June 23rd, 2014
nikkisixx101

problem is people barch their way to th10 and dont build any skill actually using a real army and 3 starring a same lvl th. they suck in clan wars. the lower lvl's it's good for people to experiment with giants and wizards and healers and stuff and learn a wide range of attacking. not rely on abondoned bases and collector raids.
June 24th, 2014
NeuralFusion

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikkisixx101

problem is people barch their way to th10 and dont build any skill actually using a real army and 3 starring a same lvl th. they suck in clan wars. the lower lvl's it's good for people to experiment with giants and wizards and healers and stuff and learn a wide range of attacking. not rely on abondoned bases and collector raids.

There is no problem with BARCH. You are saying there is a problem with the player. Get the facts straight on this.

For experienced players, they will learn what to look for when your raiding someones base to 3 star. I've done almost nothing but BARCH and I can still 3 star people in clan wars very easily. It's because I'm a committed player and I pay attention..

BARCH Isn't the cause of people sucking in war, people who don't pay attention on how to play are the ones who suck in wars(and farming for the matter)
June 24th, 2014
ToxicWaffles24

Nice detailed guide that I'm sure will help lots of players. Thanks
June 24th, 2014
NeuralFusion

Quote:

Originally Posted by ToxicWaffles24

Nice detailed guide that I'm sure will help lots of players. Thanks

Thanks for the feedback Chuck..pekka...norris?.... lol
June 29th, 2014
DokuganR

I thought I've read something similar before :mad: Most of the info is pretty much copied or 'inspired' :p
June 29th, 2014
Jdncnf

the graphical glitch was fixed. I disagree on the leave before 40%. Most of the time that will leave me with 40,000 or so gold left which is a waste and the trophies i need to keep a range. Why go sniping when i could be farming? The odds of me or a clan mate finds him? The shield would help him regain loot and offer the next person more loot. The what to look for in a raid isn't the best. The first thing should be amount of loot is available then were is it then those things.
June 29th, 2014
Sphinx

Thank you so much!! This has really given me some things to think about. :)
June 29th, 2014
TheRealExie

Very nice

Wow very good guide, I'm also planning to apply to training grounds when th7 ;p
June 29th, 2014
clancrusher84

Thanks Hope u get a look at this

So thank u first off. As a player that isn't able to use/buy gems I try and look for all advice that helps. This for me is great!!! Thanks again for the thread. If u ever have the time my I.G.N is BigJohn84/ Clan name Beast. Maybe you can look and help me improve even more. Thanks
June 29th, 2014
Jenniferjolie

so, how much gg do you farm a week @ thread poster?
July 8th, 2014
InfinityBladeCOC

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikkisixx101

problem is people barch their way to th10 and dont build any skill actually using a real army and 3 starring a same lvl th. they suck in clan wars. the lower lvl's it's good for people to experiment with giants and wizards and healers and stuff and learn a wide range of attacking. not rely on abondoned bases and collector raids.

Same with the 1 star loonioners. Not saying they don't have skill, wite and all the other crazy pushers definitely do, but a 1 star is a 1 star, doesn't matter if its with loons or barch.
Even if you do use 2 star armies likes giant healer for farming, which is terribly inefficient if you want to max all your walls or whatever, most of the time, your targets will be low level, not the same or higher like in clan wars.

Barch is good if you want gold, elixir, and dark elixir, however, after you have enough de, hog farming is probably more efficient to farm only gold and elixir
July 8th, 2014
TheRealExie

Neural shudnt u look for working builders so there's a extra defense or 2 down?
July 8th, 2014
LordAmbreon

I'm getting a lot more loot by settling for less. I'll now go for 120k if it's in collectors or an easily reached storage. Then, I expend only 100-120 of my troops, and I can attack several times an hour, easily.
July 8th, 2014
Mynamewastaken

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeuralFusion

Army Composition is also very important. This is a subject that can be disputed between a lot of farmers. However, any true farmer will tell you that BARCH is the fastest, and cheapest, method of farming.

BAM is actually faster bc you have all barracks working and both dark barracks working
July 8th, 2014
WoWnoMore

Quote:

Originally Posted by thenextman

BAM is faster and barch is not necessarily the best. Depends on how many collector raids you encounter.

Giving them a shield means that you or anybody else is not going to encounter them for another 12 hours when their collectors are empty.

I hear this argument a lot. Fast in terms of build time, BAM is faster because of the extra 2 barracks making minions and because minions are 2 housing spaces i.e. your camps fill faster with less troops. Conversely, BARCH is a small amount slower, but you get more troops...To the point...You can build whatever army you want to build. A faster build may give you more time hitting next to find a base, but the reality of it is, it's a ♥♥♥♥ shoot. I've BAM'd and spent 15 mins hitting next, whilst I've BARCH'd and hit had an hour where I never hit Next more than 5 times. Luck and time in front of the screen are big factors in determining how much loot you get with any army.

Actually meant to quote another person, sorry my friend, you and I are on the same page.

http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...g/138px-E1.png	http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...g/120px-E2.png	http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...g/138px-E3.png	http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...g/131px-E4.png	http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...g/127px-E5.png
Empty	Low	Half	Almost Full	Full

Risk Factors	Reward Factors
How many troops will you have to deploy?	How many resources are available in total?
Chance they have clan castle troops?*	How many resources are easy to steal?
If they do have CC troops, are they in a good spot? Or can you draw them out easily?	Are there collectors you can pick off for free? How much is in them?
Chance of hidden Teslas? (TH7 and above)	Exposed or semi-exposed storage(s)?