Hey Clashers!
In two of my last three videos on YouTube I've stressed the need to add Grand Warden to Town Hall 10 with a max level of 5 (unlocking Eternal Tome ability). In this post I hope to outline my thought process behind that assertion and hopefully address any possible concerns some may have to the change (in Q&A form). Before I get to that, though, I realize that the
main concern on most player's minds right now is the current farming system. I have thoughts on that, too, but for now I'd just like to flesh out the
big balancing issue in the game.
I am also of the opinion that Town Hall 9 is now a bit too easy in clan wars (not in farming). I will link a video below this post that shares my current thoughts on Th9 and how to fix the imbalance at that level. This post will just discuss the Th10 issue.
Thesis: Town Hall 10 is imbalanced and there is currently NO incentive for players to stay there. Any smart player will simple max out Town Hall 9 and upgrade to Town Hall 10.5.5 aka Town Hall 11 with only Th9 defenses.
Why is town hall 10 imbalanced?
Town Hall 10 is currently imbalanced in all three phases of the game. Farming, pushing, and clan wars.
- Clan Wars - Town Hall 10's don't have the necessary offensive firepower to be successful on three star attempts in Clan Wars. Any fair play, skilled attacker has at least a 33% chance (some would argue much greater) at three starring at their own Town Hall level. Town Hall 10 is a huge exception to this rule. The Th10 3 star rate is dramatically lower than all others (even Th11) at below 10% (some would argue much less)
- Farming & Trophy Pushing - In PVP Town Hall 10s are also at a disadvantage. They can't farm nearly as effectively as Town Hall 11. At Th11 I'm able to use Grand Warden Eternal Tome ability to neutralize 1 or even 2 inferno towers while my troops move through the center of the map. This leads to a huge increase in % and net loot gained. % is not pivotal in the game to take advantage of the league bonus. The small loot penalty incurred at Th11 does NOT offset the huge advantage of the Grand Warden. In trophy pushing Town Hall 10's are also at a significant disadvantage as they don't have the benefit of GW on defense (statue) and are going to be forced to defend against Th11s and have to attack Th11s in matchmaking (another flaw in the system IMO)
How does Grand Warden at Level 5 fix these issue.
- Grand Warden at level with will unlock Life Aura Level 5 and Eternal Tome level 1, which will re-balance Town Hall 10.
- LA ability will provide a 24.4% (max 94) Hitpoint buffer to all units within range of GW. Eternal Tome will provide a 3.5 second period of invincibility to troops within range of effect.
- This will be just enough to increase the farming, pushing, and 3 star clan war capability of Town Hall 10, causing people to stay Th10 instead of rushing to Th11.
Answers to possible critiques to this proposal:
Q: Why do you want people to stay Th10 so badly?
A: The normal progression of the game is to spend more time at each increasing Town Hall level. There should not be a "random" town hall that people rush past because it doesn't make sense to stay there.
Town Hall 10 is the most expensive Town Hall both in terms of upgrade cost and duration, it should therefore be the longest "stepping stone" in a Clash player's progression. Right now it is not because there is no incentive to stay there (people should upgrade to 10.5 only for access to Grand Warden).
Q: Then why not add AQ to Th8? Heroes are available every other town hall, keep it that way!
A: Heroes being available every other Town Hall level is arbitrary (as there is only a three hero sample size) but there is a very good reason why AQ being added to Th8 makes no sense. Because Town Hall 8 is already balanced! They do not need additional access to a hero to help balance things. Offense and defense are already appropriately balanced at Th8. Just as I would never advocate for Th9 to get access to Grand Warden because Town Hall 9 is already balanced (or at least was) perfectly.
Q: But if you give Town Hall 10 level 5 Grand Warden there will be no incentive to upgrade to Th11!
A: Wrong! If you give Town Hall 10 access to level 5 GW it will
finally incentivize players to stay Town Hall 10 and even max out because they'll have plenty of firepower for the Town Hall. (Just as most Th9 players currently do) There are four reasons that players will still want to upgrade to Th11.
- Players will want to have access to level 3 witches, level 7 minions, and any additional added levels of troops in the future.
- Players will want to eventually add the additional defenses (Eagle Artillery, new Xbow, new Wizard tower (and levels), Archer Tower, and Cannon.
- Players will want access to level 6-20 of Grand Warden.
- Players who max Th10 will have nothing left to do, so will naturally be inclined to upgrade to Town Hall 11 and continue with their natural progression.
Q: What will make Town Hall 11 special?
A: New defense, new troop levels, new defensive levels, additional Grand Warden levels, new art, and
access all additional new content added in the future.
Here is the video I mentioned earlier outlining the balancing issues in the game and how I think Supercell can solve them, feel free to give it a listen and share your feedback here or in the comment section there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ4YJ9iWhVM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ4YJ9iWhVM
Thanks for taking the time to read through my proposal! Can't wait to hear your thoughts :)