The Eagle Artillery is your premium weapon of TH11. It has several specific rules that it must follow during a raid that is unlike any other defensive building in Clash of Clans. The reason for these "rules" is due to the fact that it is an overpowering weapon of incredible strength. 1st off its best to think of the Eagle Artillery commonly abbreviated as simple EA, as a larger and much more powerful Mortar. Just like the Mortar it has a slow rate of fire and there is a buildup of destructive power in between shots. Also like the Mortar there is a safe zone once troops get close to the EA. It is a ranged weapon and cannot shoot at troops once they get inside 6 tiles of the EA. Finally the EA must wait until there is a minimum of 150 troops placed onto the map before it can begin its 1st firing sequence. Let briefly go over all of these points with a little more detail.

       The Eagle Artillery or AE is not available until TH11, it only has one upgrade to become maxed as of 8/22/16. Its also extremely expensive to max out at a whopping 10,000,000 gold! It is the largest defense in the game taking up a 4x4 tile area. Although these are impressive stats they are not the reason why the EA is the top defense in the game. The EA represents unbelievable power and unlimited range. Those that developed this

weapon knew that they had to be careful with

the EA and not allow one defense to unbalance

the game which would cause chaos in the top tier

of players in the game (that are also the ones that

have the most time and energy invested in the

game) so they decided to set a delay on the super

weapon and allow players to deploy 149 troops

without triggering the EA into its firing sequence.

This would also encourage players to become more

creative in their attacks and stop using the mass troop

raids that the developers of Clash have often voice

strongly against. Advanced players try to enter the

bases walls during the opening stages of the raid and

neutralize the EA with under150 troops before it ever takes the 1st shot. Piercing Kill Squads and the use of the "walk" which are different troops under several Healers have dominated TH11 gameplay, all of which is a concentrated effort to get to the Eagle and take it down before they begin their raid. The use of the Grand Warden's ability the Eternal Tome has also been a primary tactic to get to the EA with their army intact.

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       Strategically placing the Eagle Artillery on your base is a key to success. TH11 attackers are the most experienced in the game on both offense and defense, this is really apparent with the EA placement. During a raid, especially a Clan War attack where you know there will be maxed CC troops inside the TH11 Clan Castles, the attacker will set objectives for the raid. Common objectives will always be the Archer Queen and the CC troops and at TH11 the EA has to be considered a primary target as well. This will push the importance of managing the Inferno Towers back a notch to 4th on the list. Fifth would be whatever defenses are the most impactful on the particular attack. For example an air raid would have to prioritize the Air Defenses while ground bases attacks are going to try to trigger Giant Bombs and other imposing ground defenses. Understanding how attacker prioritize their objectives good TH11 base builders will separate the Clan Castle, the Archer Queen and the Eagle Artillery to make it as hard as possible to take out several objectives with the minimal troops used in their Kill Squad. Attacker will have to choose between destroying the Clan Castle troops or destroying the Eagle Artillery and then try to manage the attack with extremely strong defenses (or troops) on the map at the beginning of the main stages of their attacks. So in short, separate the big defenses as much as possible! Make the attacker choose between the EA of the CC troops, don't allow them to get to both with their Kill Squad!

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       On offense there are so many factors to consider once you have reached the TH11 stages of the game. Maxed Troops, Maxed Defenses and maxed Heroes are always going to be lurking on the TH11 bases so its time to stop thinking about what your going to do during the attack while your IN the attack and start planning out the attack from start to finish before the ATTACK button is ever pressed. Elite attackers have a plan for each and every defensive building on the map and the best attackers have 2nd , 3rd and even a 4th option in case things go catastrophically wrong. If you are in a clan with several TH11s along side of you, everyone should have at least 1 popular base build just to practice on. Practice taking out the Eagle Artillery without triggering it at all. If you practice this enough and really understand how to get this done your attacks will be so much easier and your success rate will improve as well.  

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       Here are some key factors when considering the Eagle Artillery on either the offensive or defensive side.

• Eagle Artillery targets "Hot Spots" on the map. This is the are with the highest concentration of troops.

• the EA does X4 damage to the Golem and will usually target the Golem unless there is another area that has a multitude of troops close together.

• The EA begins its first firing sequence at 150 troop count. Once 150 housing spaces of troops are deployed the EA will become active and stay active until the raid is over or it becomes a pile of EA rubble.

• The EA will continue to fire regardless of the troop count once it becomes engaged.

• The Heroes count as 25 troops regardless of their actual level, if the Hero gets additional troops as part of their ability, those troops do NOT count towards the total housing space of allowed troops on the map before engaging.

• The Witch's Skeletons do not count towards the 150 housing space of troops either

• all Spells are worth 5 housing space of troops regardless or their type or level

• use your queen's ability early if she becomes low on Hit Points. A last second ability will usually result in her death despite being invisible

• the use of the Skeleton Spell on an isolated EA is an excellent strategy because they will be inside the EA's safe zone and it will not be able to defend itself 

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      Now that Ezecuelle (aka EZE) is a TH11 and I'm attacking against the Eagle Artillery every attack I can finally add some more useful information on the mega-defense in TH11.. the EA! I am always looking for new and improved ways to take down the EA and in doing so I have noticed a few trends that are notable. Keep in mind most defenders understand that the Eagle Artillery is a main objective for 95% of the attackers, therefor they will lay a multitude of traps on the most obvious path to the EA from the nearest of should I say the most predictable approach. My goal is to get to the Eagle from an angle they did not anticipate. My suggestion is this... before you begin your attack consider that the direct path to the EA will most likely have both air and ground traps embedded in the pathway. You want to to try to path your troops to the EA as quickly as possible but in a direction that would not be the defenders 1st choice. There is not gimmick or trick to this just some additional head scratching moments on your part, as you decide the best way to get to your objective without pushing your troops down the exact course that the defender has anticipated. It's exciting to have another oppertunity to outthink the defender... more to come soon!!

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