Witches are 12 housing space troops that are extremely fragile, maxing out at 330 Hit Points and attacking at a very soft 70 DPS for maxed Witches. Despite their fragile state, Witches are a dangerous troop. Their biggest threat does not come from their actual attack but from their ability. They summon small groups of Skeletons that run out in front of the Witch, attacking anything in front of them. While the Skeletons are intact (was going to say alive but I guess they are never alive) and fighting the Witch will also target any building or troop, dealing a small area splash damage which can effect multiple targets at one time. Once the Skeletons start to fall from enemy defensive turrets or troops the Witch will stop attacking momentarily and summon another wave of Skeletons. This process of creating Skeletons that advance in front of the Witch's position and attack while the Witch stays behind their protective presence allows this unique troop to effectively reproduce a multitude of her own troops before she gets targeted herself.

       Witches were at on point in Clash's history the most powerful and widely utilized troop in the game. Many players would use a mass Witch army and wipe out even the maxed out TH11s. Once SuperCell caught wind of this they quickly "Nerfed" the Witch with one simple change in their behaviors. The Skeleton hordes that fanned out in front of the Witches no

longer activated the traps that were able to damage

the fragile Witches so badly, thus leaving them in

their present state of venerability. The mass Witch

era in Clash came to a screeching halt BUT the use

of the Witch as a valuable part of your army is still

alive and as relevant as ever. Advanced players

adapted to the new programming of the Witch

fairly quickly and began to mix other troops like

the Goblin and Barbarian in with the Witch and

her Skeleton Army. By doing this the Goblin, for

example would now be the troop that runs out in

front of the Witch, triggering the ever present

threat of Giant Bombs and Spring Traps.

       Using the Witch as an attacking troop takes TONS of practice and even more patience during the learning process. They are an extremely expensive troop, maxing out at 450 Dark Elixir per unit. As a 12 housing space troop this makes her the most expensive DE troop her housing space in the game. Advanced players use the Witch in combination with several other troops, the most popular of these combos is the Gowiwi. (Golem/ Witch/ Wizard) The Gowiwi is best know for the powerful point of the attack led by the tanking Golems and backed up with the power of the Wizards splash damaging attack. The Witch will bring up the rear of the attack along with the swarming hordes of Skeletons

that accompany them. As this attack evolves throughout the base

the Skeletons begin to infiltrate every pocket of the map,

protecting not only the Witches but the Wizards as well. Point

defenses such as the Archer Tower and Cannon are easily

overrun by the hordes of Skeletons but fair warning,

groups of Hidden Tesla Towers and well placed Wizard

Towers can easily eliminate large groups of Skeletons.

Most advanced players are always aware of the Mortar

positions as well. They can be the largest threat to the Witch

because once the Skeletons get close to the Mortar they will

retarget the trailing troop, in this case the lower Hit Point Witch.

Even after the Witches December 2016 Buff it still only takes 4-5 Mortar shells to wipe the Witch off of the map. In the necromancers defense this is alot better than the 1-2 Mortar impacts that shortened her lifespan to zero before the BUFF!

       The Witch is a very popular defensive Clan Castle troop. Many clans have learned that the Witch work extremely well with air troops like the Dragon, Baby Dragon and the Balloon. Attacking troops are at a serious disadvantage when dealing with the Witch in the Clan Castle because she will stay back out of reach as her Skeletons engage enemy troops. Many times the Witch will not only stay behind her Skeletons but behind a separate section of walls as well. This allows her to continuously spawn more and more Skeletons which distract the attacking troops. If an air troop is used in combination with the Witch, they will also benefit from the speedy Skeletons. The Skeletons will almost always be the 1st troops to engage the enemy troops therefor the enemy troops are targeting and re-targeting the Skeletons, leaving the Air Troops wide open for their areal bombardments. At lower TH levels Clan Castle Witches have been known to delay attackers just long enough for the outer defenses to pound down on the attacking troops locations, reducing their numbers down to much more manageable and sometimes meek state. Another advantage for using the Witch in the Clan Castle on Defense is just the sheer number of additional Skeletons that the witch can summon during a single defensive stand. Instead of 25 housing space of troops defending your prized village the witch may swell that number all the way to 45 or 50 if she is able to continue to spawn her Skeletons.

       Upgrading the Witch should be a no brainer for most everyone. She only has 3 levels at this point so both of her upgrades are monumental to her overall state. The Witches DPS goes up by 20% on the 1st upgrade and her Hit Points go up by 25%. That’s an enormous jump for one upgrade! I know that a troop with 300 Hit Points AFTER the 1st upgrade is not someone you want on the front line but the huge relevant increase will allow her to withstand 3-4 extra blasts from their Nemesis defense the Mortar which is extremely important. Every Upgrade the Witch undergoes increase the number of Skeletons that she can spawn at one time and raises the Limit of Skeletons each Witch is allowed on the map at one time. This is another huge point to remember as well. A level 2 witch is allowed to spawn 4 witches at a time and allows 8 witches total on the map at one time. Level 3 Witches are allowed 10 on the map at one time. This increase may seem subtle at 1st but when dealing with defenses like the Inferno Tower those extra 2 troops may mean the difference between the Inferno Tower targeting the Witch once several Skeletons go down OR give the Witch the overwhelming horde that’s needed to eliminate the elite defenses. Remember that the Skeletons all do 45 DPS which means that 10 Skeletons are capable of doing 450 DPS! Add the maxed Witches 35 DPS to that total for an impressive 485 DPS. Now those are big numbers for a single Witch, just think about what 10 Witches could do.

       Early 2017 was a breakthrough time for the Witches in CoC.. They have a new niche that most players have absolutely no idea about! This niche is the "WITCH WALK" Try adding 3 Healers to 4-5 Witches and send them around the outer walls during a raid.. Its a great adaptation for TH9s instead of using the TH10 Bowler Walk. Goto EZE street GAMING for a closer look at the attack!

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       Overall the Witch may be one of the most delicate and difficult troops to master but the rewards for those who have learned how to use them are definitely worth the risk. Using multi phase attacks that take careful planning, meticulous scouting and nearly perfect execution will only help your overall performance in all stages of the game. The Witch may have as much value as the teacher of the fundamentals of the game as they do on the battlefield itself. Players that have manages to stick with the Witch, mainly in the Gowiwi have all had to learn the valuable lesson of adaptation and will find that most other are much less complex and will now come that much easer to them.

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THEY SNUCK ONE IN ON US!

During the massive may 2017 update that brought us the NEW GAME MODE, the Witch also got a small treek that many people overlooked.. not EZE! Now when your Witch finally dies she has a "death event" this even happens to every Witch on the battlefield upon death. Introducing the Skeleton Burst! Pay close attention the next time your Witch dies, she will burst into several Skeletons and they will charge forward.. to their certain death, but still a nice new feature!