THE BASICS

The Sneaky Archer is unlocked at Builder Barracks lvl 2. Unlike the Archer from Home Village who uses a recurve bow, the Sneaky Archer uses a crossbow similar to the massive x-bow that the Archer Queen uses. Sneaky Archers behave in a similar fashion to the rest of the Builder Base troops when attacking. She attacks the closest building until an enemy troop is close by. At that point they stop attacking the building and begin to attack the troops until they are dead or out of their range/ site at which point they go back to attacking the closest building from their new location. Sneaky Archers are small in size and do not do a ton of damage but they made a name for themselves on the Builder Base.

​

 COST

 Sneaky Archers start out at a modest 5000 elixir to upgrade from level 1 to level 2. This makes them one of the least expensive troops at the lower levels. They max out at 3.3 million which is about average for all the Builder Base troops. Cheap and effective.. And I'm going to say cute too, what more could a guy ask for!

​

 THE CLOAK ABILITY

 The Sneaky Archer get their name from their special ability Cloak. They start out every raid invisible from all defenses. The only set back is that they will still get damaged if a Mortar shell or later on a Giant Cannon ball crosses their path so be careful when deploying these fragile troops. As they advance in level the length of time that they remain cloaked grows considerably which is by far their greatest attribute. Deploy them 1-2 at a time on the same building and work your way around the base. They will be able to take out practically every building within their range under Cloak. The only issue is that you may have to chip away at the larger buildings and defense with multiple sets of 2 Sneaky Archers… but the tactic works well we have all seen it done to us. A few things to remember… the spring Traps and Push Traps still work on cloaked archers and the Hidden Tesla will detect a Sneaky Archer and pop out of the ground but will not attack her until she becomes uncloaked.

THE SCOUT

Sneaky Archers are used 2 ways. 1st all by themselves with the help of the Hero and 2nd behind the tanky Boxer Giants. When scouting the base before the attack begins look for bases that are evenly spread out. This will be where a mass Sneaky Archer attack could work. Advanced players will use 1/2 of their Archers before deploying the Hero to take out key buildings and defenses necessary to funnel the Battle Machine into the base. The remainder of Sneaky Archers are deployed behind the Hero to assist him in eliminating the defenses as quickly as possible. If they are spread out the Battle Machine (past level 5) will be able to use his ability many times and often with level the entire base. If the defenses are grouped up around the Builder Hall like they do in so many set ups you will need to add a bunch of hit points to help keep the defenses off of the Sneaky Archers. Bases that center the Air targeting defenses and place the Multi Mortar and Roaster towards the outer edges are the most vulnerable to the Sneaky Archers attack. That being said bases that center the Multi Mortar will give the Sneaky Archers trouble. As soon as the Tanking troops get inside the Multi Mortar's safe zone it will switch targets to the Archers and begin to rain on their parade. One volley from the Multi Mortar will kill a group of Sneaky Archers if you are not careful.

​

EASE OF USE

The Sneaky Archer has another formation that has been very effective on the Builder Base. That's the GiaBarch attack (Boxer Giants, Raged Barbarians and Sneaky Archers) This is probably the attack that will give beginner players their 1st taste of a 3 star attack. Between the damage soaking Boxer Giants leading the way and the powerful Raged Barbarians smashing everything in site and the clever Sneaky Archers plucking down targets from afar there is all of the elements of a powerful ground attack here. Add the Bomber to the mix and you have one of the most successful attacks in the Builder Base. The key to success is to patiently drop all of the troops in the correct order and at the right time. The order is simple.. Start with the Sneaky Archers n several of the outer buildings and before their ability runs out drop the Boxer Giants down onto the map to pass by the Archers and begin soaking up the perimeter defenses fire. Right behind the Boxer Giants comes the Raged Barbarians. They will quickly catch up to the Boxer Giants and join in the front line of the attack while the Sneaky Archers will used their single target ranged attack to assist the boys in front from a safe distance.

DEFENSE

Defending against the Sneaky Archer can be a tall task. The biggest mindset I try to maintain is to understand that the tanking troops will go directly to the defenses. This gives us an opportunity to catch the Sneaky Archers with a Mega Mine placed carefully outside and common path that the Boxer Giant may take, usually set in between a couple of storages or collectors that are set far enough away from a defense that a stray Boxer Giant wont meander off into it. A series of well placed mines in groups of 3 will also help keep the Sneaky Archer at bay. Next the biggest threat to the Sneaky Archer will be the Multi Mortar. Try to place it up against the builder Hall with the Crusher next to it to help ward off the Raged Barbarians and Boxer Giants. Centering as many of your defenses around the Builder Hall is probably he best defense against the Sneaky Archer raids. Finally the Push Traps can be very effective on Sneaky Archers. This may sound strange but try to push them straight into the heart of the base, right on top of the Crusher if possible. That will lead to the Sneaky Archer's demise with certainty. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

Excuse the pun but the Sneaky Archer is sneaky good… they are tough little troops especially in the hands of a stingy and patient attacker that understands how to trickle them into different areas of the base in a hurry. Finding the best attack patterns is key to this troop. Great Sneaky Archer attackers seem to attack the entire base while they are under cloak and will have a surprisingly high number of Sneaky Archers left when its time to rush in and take down the core of the base. Unlike the Home Village where the Archer is used sparcily in war the Sneaky Archer is a formidable weapon that is used at the very top of the ladder in the Builder Base ranks, just go look at how many of the top 100 players have camps full f them, that should say it all right there.