Summary
- Balloons are the sixth overall troop unlocked in the Barracks, and is the first aerial unit unlocked in the Home Village, unlocked in Level 6 Barracks.
- Balloons are “promoted” Wall Breakers that now attack from a hot air balloon. They drop bombs towards the ground with a large area splash damage, which can destroy a wide range of ground targets, but can be easily taken out by any anti air building (such as the Air Defense).
- They are the slowest-moving and slowest-attacking troops in the game. However, they have the fourth-highest DPS for a troop in the game.
- When they are defeated, Balloons drop to the ground and explode, dealing relatively minor damage (as compared to the damage of their bombs).
- Balloons prioritize defensive structures above all other targets, and will bypass all other types of enemy buildings and troops while any defenses remain on the battlefield. This is true even if they are under attack by enemy Clan Castle troops, heroes or Skeleton Trap skeletons. Note that like all troops that prioritize defenses, Balloons do not consider the Clan Castle to be a defense regardless of whether or not it contains enemy troops, but do consider the defending Grand Warden and the level 12 or 13 Town Hall (if its Giga Tesla or Giga Inferno has been triggered) to be defensive buildings.
Once all defenses are destroyed, Balloons become like any other troop with no preferred target; they will attack the nearest building to them regardless of type, and will turn and attack enemy units if they become aware of any nearby.
Offensive Strategy
- It would be advisable to destroy all aerial defenses such as Archer Towers, Wizard Towers and Air Defenses before deploying Balloons. Also beware of the Clan Castle; Archers and Wizards hiding in a Clan Castle will make short work of Balloons as well.
- Balloons are exceptionally useful in the Single Player Campaign. You can simply destroy all of the Air Defenses, Archer Towers and Wizard Towers, then deploy a single Balloon. It will destroy every building. It takes a bit of patience, but it pays off at the end. With a Single Player Campaign, there is no time limit, so one unthreatened balloon will eventually destroy every building.
- Important note: In many cases a single Balloon will take enough time to destroy the remaining buildings that your game will time out due to inactivity, which will cause your attack to end prematurely and be unsuccessful (regardless of how many stars you had earned to that point). To prevent this from happening simply change the view every few moments (by panning or zooming).
- When raiding other players, time is limited, so make sure you take out all the Air Defenses quickly, then send in multiple Balloons.
- Groups of five Balloons or more can usually overwhelm an Archer Tower. Nine Balloons is generally assured destruction unless there are Air Mines or an Air Defense nearby.
- If Elixir is no object, dropping a Dragon near an Air Defense before deploying Balloons can protect them from being attacked for a significant amount of time, much like Giants can occupy a Mortar.
- You can also send Balloons after Air Defenses themselves, but this isn’t recommended if the Balloons have a long distance to fly for they will be shot down quickly.
- Although Balloons are slow moving, their damage is excellent; a good option is to speed them up with a Rage Spell. “Rage-Balloons” is an effective, if not often used, strategy (the only drawback is the time to train them).
- Beware of Wizard Towers and Hidden Teslas, as they can cause quite a bit of damage before being destroyed, allowing Archer Towers to then destroy your balloons easily.
- Some people forget to buy Air Defenses; Balloons (and Minions) are a great way to teach them the error of their ways.
- Destroy the Air Defenses, as their sole purpose is to destroy air units (and they are very good at it). Mistakenly placing a Balloon while the Air Defense remains active will cost you!
Defensive Strategy
- Generally, Balloons are relatively decent as a defensive unit: if a player is attacking only with troops that cannot target air units (Barbarians, Giants, Goblins, etc.), the Balloon is perfect for defending as it cannot be destroyed except by Lightning Spells. It is especially effective against Barbarians and Goblins as it does splash damage.
- From a defensive standpoint, it takes quite a few Archers to take out the Balloon, which effectively weakens the raid. Its only major weaknesses are Dragons and Minions, both of which can destroy it easily without fear of counterattack. A single similar-level Wizard (up to level 3) is also able to destroy a Balloon due to its high damage output, but only if it has sufficient range to fire twice before the Balloon closes (the Balloon will kill the Wizard in one shot). Beyond level 3, two Wizards would be required.
| Preferred Target | Attack Type | Housing Space | Training Time | Speed | Attack Speed | Barracks Level Required | Range | Death Damage Radius |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defenses | Area Splash 1.2 Tile Radius (Ground Only) | 5 | 8m | 10 | 4s | 6 | 0.5 tiles | 1.2 tiles |
| Level | Damage per Second | Damage per Attack | Damage Upon Death | Hitpoints | Training Cost | Research Cost | Laboratory Level Required | Research Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 | 100 | 25 | 150 | 2,000 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2 | 32 | 128 | 32 | 180 | 2,500 | 150,000 | 2 | 1 day |
| 3 | 48 | 192 | 48 | 216 | 3,000 | 450,000 | 4 | 2 days |
| 4 | 72 | 288 | 72 | 280 | 3,500 | 1,350,000 | 5 | 3 days |
| 5 | 108 | 432 | 108 | 390 | 4,000 | 2,500,000 | 6 | 5 days |
| 6 | 162 | 648 | 162 | 545 | 4,500 | 6,000,000 | 7 | 10 days |
Clash of Clans Troops
| Tier | Troops |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Barbarian • Archer • Goblin |
| Tier 2 | Giant • Wall Breaker • Balloon • Wizard |
| Tier 3 | Healer • Dragon • P.E.K.K.A |
| Dark Elixir Troops | Minion • Hog Rider • Valkyrie • Golem • Golemite • Witch • Skeleton |
| Heroes | Barbarian King • Archer Queen |
| Spells | Lightning Spell • Healing Spell • Rage Spell • Jump Spell • Freeze Spell |
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. It uses material from the Balloon article.
