BALLOONS are a 5 housing space, slow moving

areal troop that deals area splash damage and

targets defensive structures only.. Until they are all

destroyed. They are relatively  soft troops maxing

out at a mere 792 HP that WILL NOT defend

themselves in an attack (again until all of the

defensive buildings are destroyed). You would think

that a slow moving, low HP troop would have no

place in your army BUT you would be sooo wrong!

Balloons have proven to be one of the deadliest troops in the

CoC arsenal due to their ability to cooperate so well with

other troops and due to their overwhelming power once under

the influence of a Rage or Haste spell. Added to this power was a December 2016 BUFF that enabled the Balloon to drop the 1st bombs MUCH faster than

before and nearly doubled their overall drop speed, as if they

we not strong enough! There are several things to consider

when using Loons in a raid that will either make or break

your attack.

         1st is going to be WHO you use the "Loons" with. They are

best when used with high HP "Tanking" troops such as the

Lava Hound in the LaLoon attack, or with the mighty Golem

in the Goloon or with both in the GoLaLoon. By deploying the

bullet shielding tanking troops 1st and then deploying the

Balloons moments later, players enjoy watching defenses

concentrate their firepower on the high HP troops while the

loons swoop in behind them and completely devastate

the village. In the lower TH levels of 7 and 8 the use of the

Dragon and Balloon .. the DragaLoon, Balloons are deployed  

after a full array of sturdy Dragons. In this attack the Balloons

will quickly overtake the Dragons positions and help clear out

the pesky Air Defenses allowing the higher HP Dragons do

what they do best.. set villages on fire!

       2nd is the spell selections and placements. Many players

will eliminate one or even two Air Defenses with the use of the

Lightning or the combination of the Lightning and Earthquake (Zap-Quake)

spells. Then they will overpower the remaining Air Defenses

(which are one of the key defenses in Balloon defense)

Advanced players will path their Lava Hounds over the Wizard Towers and Archer Towers on the way to the Air Defenses which will draw the fire from all of those defenses to the Lava Hound, allowing the Balloons free reign for several seconds. As the Loons approach nearby defensive buildings the use of a well placed Rage Spell will enhance the Balloons power and speed to such a high level that even maxed defenses will struggle to shoot them out of the sky in time. Due to the Balloons high DPS the Haste spell is also very useful.. Its does not increase their damage but it speeds them from one target to the next much faster than the Rage.

        3rd is the sheer numbers of Balloons that one can bring into a fight. At 5 housing spaces it is not uncommon to see raids with 25 balloons (or more) in them. To increase the efficiency on the Loons many players have used the surgical deployment strategy. This means that they would drop 2-3 Balloons close to each particular target. Sending small groups to multiple targets at one time forces each defensive structure to manage the incoming threats individually instead of allowing 3-4 defenses to target one group of Balloons.

       If a player manages to combine all of the advantages of the Balloons into one smooth and coerce attack, the end results are commonly 3 star attacks in a wicked fast fashion. ** Lets not forget about clean up after the defenses are all down! If Balloons have a weakness its their speed and that they have a tendency to group together at the end of an attack. This will cause the attack to take longer than the time allowed. By adding 10-15 Minions or by using the Skeleton Spell you can give the Loons the added help they need after a hard day of dropping bombs on bases faces.

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