Clash of Clans Strategy – Intermediate

So, you know the ropes because you’ve ready my Clash of Clans Strategy – Novice guide and you’re ready for more.  To get the most out of this guide, you should be sitting at about level 24+ and a Town Hall level 6 or better.  If you’re level 60+, you might even be ready for my Clash of Clans Strategy – Veteran (coming soon) guide.

UPDATE 4.12.14: Check out recent Clan Wars post with a broad overview and some high level strategies for Clan Wars.

Now that you’re in the right place, there are many subtle visual cues to watch for that will allow you to plan your attacks and build your defenses.  Pay close attention to the model detail in order to properly identify the strength of defenses, where their resources are most likely held, and weaknesses in their defensive layout.

When scouting potential opponents, first identify where their resources are being held to determine whether or not the bulk of them are even within reach.  You’ll come across several opponents who have a well-fortified defense around their storages; however, there can sometimes be hundreds of thousands of Gold in their mines and Collectors if you look closely.

For Gold, look for the highest level mines and zoom in to see if there is any Gold in the bin outside the mine.  The more Gold you can see there determines how full the mine is.  Don’t pay attention to the mine cart itself, as that is no indicator of its capacity.  Find a level 10 Gold Mine with a pile of gold in the bin and you could be looking at 100,000+ Gold in each one.

The visual cue for Elixir Collectors is a little more obvious, although I’ve often seen them appear as empty until you begin attacking it, then it will visually display the correct level of Elixir.  I think this is a bug and I hope Supercell fixes it soon.  Once the visuals are corrected, just look for the Elixir Collectors full of the pink stuff.  It would also behoove a player to know the visual differences in the level of the Collectors so you know the potential capacity of each, prioritizing the fuller, higher-level Collectors first.

 

Once on the offensive, keep your Archers at a distance and out of the reach of Mortars and Mage Towers.  Let a Giant take the damage of the Mage Towers, as their magik is weak versus them.  For best results, drop a Giant on one side of a Mage tower, and about 4-8 Archers away from the Giant to take it down with minimal losses.

Cannons just need multiple targets in order to take down quickly.  I typically don’t waste Giants on them because a Barbarian can take 3 hits and with some support, 2-3 Barbarians and 4-6 Archers should be able to take down even a level 8 Cannon with only the loss of your Barbarians.

For your defenses, build upon the novice strategy and put your Gold and Elixir Storages behind two layers of wall with your Mortars and Mage Towers.  If you’ve got your Dark Elixir Storage already, that should also be included to be behind double walls.  Your walls should all be level 5 or higher about this point in the game, usually requiring two Goblins to blow through each layer.  Minimize your wall damage by placing a protruding wall every 5-6 spaces so that Goblins focus them first, essentially adding a third wall to your defenses.  A double wall also keeps Archers at a distance while Archer Towers can whittle them down.

By this time you’ll have several Hidden Traps, Bombs, and Giant Bombs.  I recommend saving the Giant Bombs for once they have breached your outer wall, otherwise you could go though Gold pretty quickly at 50,000 each.  Leave the Bombs and Hidden Traps where enemies group together naturally such as around corners or where Goblins might try to land a hit.  Placed correctly, and you can wipe out a couple additional Goblins before they blow through your walls.

If you find that you’re constantly getting farmed for resources, leave your Town Hall unprotected.  Then a lower level player seeking Trophies may just take out your Town Hall, granting you an 8-11 shield.  You’ll lose 6-10 Trophies, but if you’re saving resources for a large upgrade or expensive building, it’ll minimize your losses while focusing on protecting your resources.

Lastly, if you’re in need of resources and don’t want to disable your shield, remember those pesky Goblins at the beginning of the game?  Hit up the NPC Goblin towns and you should be able to snatch some easy Gold once you’ve reached about 60+ stars.

Is there something I’m missing?  Perhaps, a strategy I’ve overlooked?  Please post in the comments section and I’ll revise this article to keep it up-to-date.  Until next time, good luck, have fun!