A solution for 4 lightning spell DE hit and run attacks.

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Originally Posted by ComAdore

I'm aware this has been discussed to death.
The most common rebuttal is, "just revenge them"
Well the revenge system is not perfect. And in this case that was never an option.

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So you attacked them first? Well, then they have perfect right to zap you.

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Originally Posted by Xitra

I remember the first time I thought about zapping. I was a TH5. I came across a base with a fully loaded "vault". It was a TH6 with two fully loaded gold storages, two fully loaded elixir storages, all crammed into a 6x6 vault. He was offering 200k of each. I was a pretty new TH5, had just unlocked the lightning spell. I was pretty sure I couldn't break into the vault. But I thought, could I just drop a lightning spell in there? What would it do? Would it give me any resources? Surely the game designers must have anticipated this and put something in to prevent it, right?

Sadly, I didn't try. In hindsight, I think it might have been a good test for a noob player like I was back then.

When I first learned about DE zapping on this forum, I knew exactly what was going on, because I'd thought about doing it myself, but with regular resources. And I thought it was a very dirty tactic. I vowed that I would never do it myself, even if it was profitable.

But as time went on, I learned about the many sides of the issue. How it helps keep high level players uncomfortable when they're farming way below their proper trophy range. How it serves as a way to get sweet revenge on someone too powerful to attack directly. How it used to help poor TH7's get DE, when their main source of DE was TH8's. Heck, I'm afraid to raid TH8's sometimes, and I'm one myself. I can't imagine having to storage raid TH8's as a TH7. Sure, you might get lucky and be able to raid a premie TH8 with stone walls and TH6 defenses. But a proper TH8 that was a maxed TH7 before upgrading? No thanks! Hmm, I guess that's what dragons are for...


So where am I now? I would have no "moral" or "ethical" issue with zapping to get DE. And now that I'm finally in that place, where I could zap and still sleep at night, will I do it? Probably not. It's just not profitable. I used to keep 2 heal 1 rage in my spell factory, but now I carry 1 heal, 1 rage, 1 lightning. You know, just in case I find a base worth zapping, I'd like to have the option. But I really don't see myself ever doing it. I usually just end up using the lightning on CC troops or something like that. So to this day, I've never zapped.

(I did double-tap a mortar once, which was right next to a DE storage, so I got a little DE from the splash. But that was his own fault for putting one high-value target right next to another. I also zapped some CC troops one time, and noticed after I dropped the lightning, that I had dropped it right on the DE storage. I had a good chuckle at the irony. Stupid thing absorbed so much of the damage that half the CC troops didn't die. So in my book, it was a wasted lightning spell! Not because it got so little DE, but because it didn't kill the dang troops!)


Anyway, long story short, just because someone accepts zapping as a legitimate strategy, it doesn't mean they'll suddenly stop raiding with troops to get DE. Seriously, even if I boost my spell factory, I can only make 16 lightning spells in 2 hours. In a best case scenario, that'll net me about 8k DE. That's if I find TH10's with level 4 DE storages offering the max 3k DE with minimal hit points to protect it. But that's very unrealistic. More realistically, I'm going to be making something like 3k-5k DE per 2 hour session.

I suppose I could GiBarch during that 2 hour session as well. But if I'm going to be barching with a boosted spell factory, I'd rather have my heal and rage spells. I can't stand it when I clear perimeter buildings, bust through walls, take out splash defenses, take out more walls, and then my troops run out of gas right when they start shooting at the DE storage. All that work, all the elixir for the army, all the time to build the army, and I might get 10-50% of the available DE, when a single spell could have made it 100%.

Oh, and by the way, the picture was very cool. I like the reflection of the lightning on the DE storage.

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Couldn't have said it any better

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Originally Posted by WarrenJames

If you really want something to help keep from getting revenge zapped, ask for a system that shows how mean the village is in revenge attacks. I'd be glad to show I will rip into your Dark Elixr storage, if that means you will not attack. :cool: deal?

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I actually really like this idea.:D
Like a reputation labeling system or something.
Hmm. Something to think about.
I Appreciate the input from most everyone here.
And I'm glad everyone likes the graphic. It really didn't take that long.:rolleyes:
But your comments sure are are a brush to me ego. :o
Clash on!

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Originally Posted by ComAdore

I actually really like this idea.:D
Like a reputation labeling system or something.
Hmm. Something to think about.
I Appreciate the input from most everyone here.
And I'm glad everyone likes the graphic. It really didn't take that long.:rolleyes:
But your comments sure are are a brush to me ego. :o
Clash on!

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This thread should have been closed. Its still not closed?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ComAdore

I actually really like this idea.:D
Like a reputation labeling system or something.
Hmm. Something to think about.
I Appreciate the input from most everyone here.
And I'm glad everyone likes the graphic. It really didn't take that long.:rolleyes:
But your comments sure are are a brush to me ego. :o
Clash on!

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Yeah, tell me about it. Much ego bashing is done here, with few people pausing to consider the effect on the other guy. Much of the harshness is from fatigue. Seeing too many old or bad ideas labeled as 'the awesomest idea of awesome awesomeness' being pitched around wears on a person after awhile. I'm sick of it too and you can see how long I've been here. lol

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Originally Posted by sylveonzmushi

This thread should have been closed. Its still not closed?

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Wondering about that too? Had one myself that I wanted closed, but didn't. Oddly enough, they seem to be turning out well in the end, which wouldn't have been possible if closed sooner. Go figure....

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Originally Posted by Xitra

So where am I now? I would have no "moral" or "ethical" issue with zapping to get DE. And now that I'm finally in that place, where I could zap and still sleep at night, will I do it? Probably not. It's just not profitable. I used to keep 2 heal 1 rage in my spell factory, but now I carry 1 heal, 1 rage, 1 lightning. You know, just in case I find a base worth zapping, I'd like to have the option. But I really don't see myself ever doing it. I usually just end up using the lightning on CC troops or something like that. So to this day, I've never zapped.

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So a few hours after this post, I needed to dump that 1 lightning spell. (Remember, I carry 1 heal 1 rage 1 lightning.) I wanted another heal spell for a war attack.

So, I figured, what the heck! I was at pretty low trophies, a TH7 sitting around 1260 or something like that. I searched for like 10 minutes and hadn't found anything worth zapping. Finally, I found a base with a well-stocked vault. The DE was a bit low, but the gold was decent and the elixir was quite high. I can't get into the replay now, but I was able to screenshot the end result from my defense log. (Yes, I know there's like a day and a half long gap in my attack log. I juggle 3 accounts, so a heavy day of farming on one account means neglecting another...)

So as you can see, 4 archers to take out the town hall (overkill, but I don't like to wait for 2 archers to do it), plus 1k gold and elixir. And a single level 4 lightning spell netted me an additional 7601 gold, 26216 elixir, and 145 DE. If I'd had 3 lightning spells, just imagine what I could have gotten!

So yeah, zapping in general is not profitable. But in my case, I technically turned a profit. The elixir more than covered the cost of the lightning spell.

Just food for thought...
Attachment 97827

PS: Is there a sticky that tells how to add images properly? All I got was this little itty bitty thumbnail...

'Useful' zapping requires the target to have an absolute minimum of 1.5k lootable Dark Elixir, and not from Drills storing things. Ideally the more the better. I prefer 2k or 2.5k lootable DE from storage. With 3 lvl5 Lightening Spells, I can almost do half damage to the storage, which nets about 1k DE per salvo. So basicly, each spell pulls 300 or more DE.

For someone that can donate Dragons often, the Elixir cost is not an issue for me. But I still want as much bang for my buck, so I'm picky as to when I do my revenge zap.