Lava Hound and Balloon attacks - how many hounds do you use?

I am currently in a clan that wars only once per week, so I have just been able to use 3 lava hound attacks in wars and one of them was against a max TH8 - destroyed in 50 seconds :D

Troop levels: Hound lvl 1, Max Balloons, Minions lvl 4, Hogs lvl 4, BK 13, AQ 10. Using 3 rage 1 lightning currently. No cc luring, not taking care of AQ either - pups take her down quickly under rage. Facing only lvl 6 air defences currently.

As a new TH9, I am getting stuck at 2 stars, which is frustrating but expected when trying a new strategy. I am noticing that my lava hounds are getting fried before my loons get near the last 2 air defences. All I need is 5-10 more seconds for my hounds to live and it would be 100% destruction.

How many hounds do you use? I use only one finger to drop troops - is that my problem? I play on a phone and every time I try to use 2 fingers, I just zoom in or out.

Any suggestions or links that would help me?

i think the best is 2 hounds with one in cc...just my opinion

I recommend gadi hh's channel or guide if you want a comprehensive explanation on how this strategy works. I'm not nearly as experienced, but I can give you some tips for a start:


How many hounds do you use?

The number of hounds is dependent on the level and location of air defences. If you can get rid of a few exposed air defences and archer queen with hogs and heroes, you can use less hounds, like 2-3. If you can't and they locate are rather closely to each other, you can try 4-5.

For starters, I recommend 4-5 because it's rather brainless. Well, technically you still have to be careful with balloon deployment and have a good sense with spell's timing and placement, but it's still considerably easier than other 3-star army composition.

If you use 5 hounds, you want to drop 3 on the archer queen's side so you have a greater chance of killing her with lava puppies. A successful archer queen kill is the key to get 3 stars or 1 star.

Try to look for exterior defences that's not being protected by air defence. You can eliminate these at low cost and lure CC troops at the same time.

If you use 5 hounds, and if you know the enemy's CC contains only a few wizards, you can try without luring. Lava puppies can eliminate these quickly and even faster if they are within rage's range. This army composition is called "penta lavaloon" and you can search for more details, or "quadro lavaloon" for something similar.


I use only one finger to drop troops

There are two ways of dropping balloons:

1) Dragging in a line (to cover the whole side of the base) or dragging in 2 lines with 2 fingers and release CC troops in between, like a "八" shape. This way is easier but it's also less controllable.

2) Dropping 2-3 balloons for each defence and cover the whole side of the base. This way is more precise and all around better if you become good at it. Gadi hh uses this method and I recommend learning this as soon as possible.

You don't want to

1) Stack too many balloons in one place –– they will overkill every defence and make a great target for wizard towers

2) Leave some defences undestructed and make a crowd of balloons moving back and forth –– it's a huge time waster and it could make hounds' sacrifice meaningless.

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Originally Posted by arunt

No cc luring, not taking care of AQ either - pups take her down quickly under rage. Facing only lvl 6 air defences currently.

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That's why you don't get three star.....in my opinion you have to use hybrid strategies to get three star
a good lavalonion attack usually starts with the lure of the cc and the second step is to kill the enemy queen
even if, as you outlined, pups can take out the enemy cc and the enemy queen with easy you will lose at least 1 hound try doing this before relasing the hounds and you will really hit harder in war

I usually use 4 lava hounds and drop 10-12 balloons behind the lava hounds.

i attack from 2 sides so i would drop 2 lava hounds then 10-12 loons behind them,then do the same on the other side.
i always take 5 barbs and 5 archers just to lure then use the splash damage from loons and use 1-2 minions to take them out.

I should have posted this in General. As usual, this sub-forum has low activity.

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Originally Posted by Foreigner

*Detailed tips*

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Thanks a lot for taking the time to post such a detailed and helpful reply. I will check out the channel too :)

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Originally Posted by Clav

That's why you don't get three star.....in my opinion you have to use hybrid strategies to get three star
a good lavalonion attack usually starts with the lure of the cc and the second step is to kill the enemy queen
even if, as you outlined, pups can take out the enemy cc and the enemy queen with easy you will lose at least 1 hound try doing this before relasing the hounds and you will really hit harder in war

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The bases that I am facing have AQ lvl 5 or below. I am seeing it 3 starred by someone else with faster/better deployment. But I do agree with you that it can be the thing that kills the raid. AQ didn't die to loons/pups -> failure. Or a dragon might come out of the CC. I will definitely look into it. I am waiting to get lvl 5 hogs and then I will have more options available for hybrid armies.

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Originally Posted by waseem10

I usually use 4 lava hounds and drop 10-12 balloons behind the lava hounds.

i attack from 2 sides so i would drop 2 lava hounds then 10-12 loons behind them,then do the same on the other side.
i always take 5 barbs and 5 archers just to lure then use the splash damage from loons and use 1-2 minions to take them out.

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Thanks for replying. I guess I should lure as well.

I voted 3x since my lava is L3 now.

In your case, L1 lava is quite weak, especially against L6 AD. Try find bases with 4x L4/L5 AD to practise, and also x-bow pointing to ground, and AQ below L12.

Check out gadi/gamer88 channels. Try lure CC if possible, especially if it has archers and more than 4x wizards inside it.
1) Lure CC, bunch up, drop 1x balloon, clean up using arch/minions.
2) Start lava at the side where the AQ

In my experience for lavahound:
- 4x L1 facing up to L6 AD. L5 AD is possible to 3*, L6 is starting to get difficult.
- 3-4x L2. L6 AD slightly easier to tank. L6 difficult.
- 3x L3. L6 easy. L7 difficult.

3x L3 facing L5/L6 AD, is a bit overkill. In my last war, hogs destroy 1x AD while luring.
Remaining 3x AD, was destroyed during attack. My 2x L3 lava burst. My 3rd Lava did not burst, still have >60% health (green bar), where it is needed to clean up. However, still manage to 3*

Just my 2 cents.

3 if luring

5 is surprisingly good. No lure dont kill aq. Just brute force lol.

I've had bad luck with hounds so far in war, using both a penta and quattro attack strategies. I think this next war I will probably try 2 hounds and a kill squad for the AQ, as well as a CC lure, but we will see. I also like to use a lavaloonion attack for my over night army.

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Originally Posted by BoT2

I've had bad luck with hounds so far in war, using both a penta and quattro attack strategies. I think this next war I will probably try 2 hounds and a kill squad for the AQ, as well as a CC lure, but we will see. I also like to use a lavaloonion attack for my over night army.

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What is the bad luck ?
- enemy CC filled with 35x archers ? 4-6x wizards ?
- balloons pathing ?
- no heroes (upgrading) ?
- enemy AQ not dead ?
- what else ?