Giant-Everything you need to know
The Giant is one of the most popular units in Clash of Clans as it is the first (and cheapest) unit players get that will target defensive structures as a priority. The Giant is also the first tanking unit players get access to, capable of soaking up large amounts of damage while higher-damage units like the Archer deal damage safely from a distance.
In this guide, we will be discussing the Giant in detail, not only going over its stats, upgrades, and best uses, but also discussing the most common mistakes players make when using the Giant.
Giant Unit Information, Stats, and Levels
Training Time: 2 minutes
Supply Cost: 5
Movement Speed: 12
Targets: Ground
Preferred Target: Defenses
Barracks Required:♥Level 3
The Giant has very low speed (among the slowest units in the game) and damage (only the Golem is deals less damage per supply space) but makes up for it with its very high health and its desire to attack enemy defensive structures first. It also has a relatively fast training time, making it easy to incorporate into farming armies.
The Giant is best used as a tanking unit, soaking up fire so that your powerful but low-health units can deal damage, steal resources, or break down walls. Note that the Giant gets among the smallest upgrades in strength when going from 1 star to 3 stars. The Giant gets better upgrades when going from 3 to 4 and from 4 to 5, but does not get its first massive upgrade until max level. Max level (6) Giants gain almost 300 health alone, making them significantly stronger than their level 5 counterparts.
CoC Giant♥Strategy
In Clash of Clans,♥the Giant is incredibly popular because it is easy to use and fairly effective. Giants do however have a few flaws. They are susceptible to spring traps (due to their predictable movement patterns) and are moderately expensive. Their low damage makes it difficult for them to break down enemy walls. Their tendency to clump exaggerates the damage dealt by bombs, Mortars, and Wizard Towers.
Steps can be taken to minimize these weaknesses. Wall Breakers should be used to help break down walls and create new paths for Giants that will help the Giants avoid spring traps. Low damage can be supplemented with Wall Breakers as well as ranged DPS units. Their tendency to clump and take area of effect damage can be mitigated by healing spells or the Healer unit.
Giants♥for Farming
Giants can be useful for farming, but typically only♥at Town Hall 8 and above. At this level, they are great for using as tanking units. You can get away with using around 10 Giants at TH8 (perhaps a few more at higher levels if you have the Elixir). Drop a Giant, and allow it to tank for your Wall Breakers. Once you break down the walls and make sure all traps are sprung, you can drop all your Giants, then follow up with Wall Breakers and Archers.
One of the biggest mistakes players make in Clash of Clans surrounds their misuse of the Giant. Namely, players will make an army consisting mostly of Giants, perhaps supplementing it with a Healer or spells. This has to be among the biggest mistakes in Clash of Clans. Mass Giants is not a farming composition unless you have no concern for Elixir and only want to get Dark Elixir or Gold (and even then, you need additional units aside from Giants).
First off, contrary to popular belief, Giants are not a free unit. While not ultra-expensive like Dragons, the Giant’s cost can add up. It is not uncommon to see a Town Hall♥8♥army composition of 21♥Giants, 2 Healers, 10 Wall Breakers and 47 Archers (200 supplies total). The problem with using so many Giants is that 21 level 5 Giants at 2500 elixir a piece will run a grand total of 52,500 Elixir! When you add in a few healers (16,000-24,000 Elixir), another 25,000 Elixir for Wallbreakers, and finally a few thousand more Elixir for Archers and you are looking at an army cost of 100,000 elixir.
If you are farming and not Elixir capped, you need to limit your use of Giants. You should not even use Giants before Town Hall 8 for farming, and even then you should limit your usage.
At lower levels, Barbarians are almost as effective as Giants, and much cheaper. Rather than use 15 Giants in a Town Hall 5 army (Elixir cost of 22,500), you would be better off using 75 Barbarians (Elixir cost of 4,500). You will net a savings of 18,000 Elixir every farming battle, which will add up quickly. If you ever feel Elixir starved in Clash of Clans, the primary issue is likely your army composition.
Deploying Giants
Since players frequently lead in with Giants, many players take precautions and lay traps to try and combat Giants. Your best bet around these traps is to use cheap units like Goblins or Archers to try to spring the initial traps.
After you spring the initial traps, try not to just drop your Giants and let them find their target. Players will place traps along these common Giant pathings. Instead, drop a single Giant and then drop a few Wall Breakers near where you want to attack. By breaking down a wall, your Giants now have a new avenue of attack that your enemy could not have planned for stopping.
Once you break down a wall, drop all of your Giants. Then, immediately deploy some assistance DPS like Archers. Giants do not deal very good damage on their own, so it is important to back them up with additional damage-dealing units that can speed up the Giants’ progress through the enemy’s base. Drop additional Wall Breakers once the Giants have cleared out the target towers within that chamber of the enemy’s base.
Once you deploy your Giants, they do well supported by healing spells or Healer units, but both add to the expense of using Giants. Make sure the base is worth it before opting for this combination.
Giants for Wars
At Town Hall 6, the Giant is part of the army composition that performs the best in Clan Wars. While at TH7 you get access to Dragons and Hog Riders, before that, the Giant, Healer, and ranged DPS army is the strongest combination players can access. A TH6 army of 15 Giants, 2 Healers, a few Wall Breakers, and the rest Wizards or Archers is unstoppable for other Town Hall 6 players when deployed correctly.
The first step is to use the Giants and Wall Breakers to try and access the enemy’s Air Defense tower. Use a healing spell if necessary to keep your Giants alive while they drill towards the single Air Defense. Drop some of your damage-dealing units, but not all, as you work towards the Air Defense. You can also deploy one Healer as well if the Air Defense is well-guarded.♥Once the Air Defense is down, you can drop your remaining healer(s) and your ranged units, which will go on to easily clear the enemy’s base.
Giants♥As a Clan Castle Unit
Giants are not a great Clan Castle unit, at least for defensive purposes. If you can get max level Giants, they do okay given that max level Giants have so much health and are so much stronger than low-level Giants. This is particularly the case if you can get a high-level friend or clanmate to donate level 6 Giants to your low-level Clan Castle. While a level 6 Giant is not great in your Clan Castle at TH9, it is excellent at TH5.
