Clash of Clans Air Sweeper Analysis and Guide

Clash of Clans Air Sweeper Analysis and Guide by akiyume_coc

My thoughts on the three uses of Air Sweeper is that it’s protection value is SEVERELY overestimated. The Air Sweeper is unsuitable for actual real time protection because it locks onto 1 target that’s within it’s range, it only protects one third of its radius, it has a 5 second delay between each wave, and lastly the fact that it has a 3.5 second travel time to reach its outermost range. For example, the first short would be a ‘notice’ at 0:10, actual shot is at 0:11 seconds then travels and reaches max range at 14.5 seconds. Afterwards its second shot would be at at 0:16 seconds and be there at 0:19.5 seconds. Therefore you’d have to focus the AS on only a third of its radius and have the remaining 2/3 be a separate section that is independent of the Air Sweeper.

In conclusion, the purpose of the Air Sweeper is NOT to protect (it can only protect 1/3 its coverage), but to rather deter, stall and ruin the tempo of an attacker so they can’t destroy the remaining 2/3 of its coverage. The AS doesn’t need to protect the other 2/3 of its coverage because that will be a threat by itself (having two wizard towers there for example). The Air Sweeper needs to feint protection on the 1/3 side, but truly watches over the other 2/3 Side, as well as ‘feint’ suggestions to attack from behind while being prepared.

Three Different Uses of the Air Sweeper

The main function of the Air Sweeper of course is to push away flying troops through it’s ‘air wave’ and protect the buildings in front, but through this action there are other ways for which the intentions can be used.

Here are 3 different ways which the Air Sweeper is used to protect the base.

1. To DeterIf the Air Sweeper didn’t exist in this example, all 4 ‘territories’ would be equal. But the fact that the air sweeper is covering one particular territory, it’s almost like saying “watch out bud, this is my territory so think before you enter my turf.” Since the fact that you CAN see where air sweeper is and where the air sweeper is pointing at, and you know that it will influence your raid, therefore it creates a sort of ‘boundary’ where before you can treat it like the other territories, but now you are’t able to.The intention of this set up is to provide a ‘barrier’ and territorial coverage as a warning to the enemy attacker.

   This is a mind game used to control the enemy’s deployment rather than let them control it. If you can force them to not play one hand (coming from the front) and you already anticipate they will come from behind, that would mean not only you stopped something, but you’ve gained something as well.

2. To ProtectIt’s alittle obvious the fact that the Air Sweeper is made to cover and protect other buildings, and prevent the enemy troops from killing a building and have it survive long enough for there defend itself.Another example for which the Air Sweeper could be used such as this image where the air sweeper is pushing away the Lava pups from the Queen so they they don’t surround her.

   The intention of this is for the building that the air sweeper is ‘shield’ the building that is in front, and provide enough coverage to the point where the previously vulnerable building that they know for sure will be taken down, will now have an uncertain feeling to it.

   The protection value of the Air Sweeper is severely overestimated since the fact it can only cover 1/3 of it’s radius. More to be discussed as you read.

3. To StallThere is a limit to how effective the Air Sweeper is with it’s weakness, so the other use for it is to stall the inevitable. If the enemy is determined to attack from the front and it’s not preventable from destruction.The intention of this set up is to mess up the timing and tempo of the attack troops as well as incorporating the other two uses to a degree. This adds an uncertain element to the gameplay of the consistent Lavaloon/loon deployment.

How to Effectively Use the Air Sweeper

The air sweeper only a controls a third of its radius because the air wave is 5 tiles wide. Since it can only lock onto one target, that would mean 2/3 of its coverage cannot be controlled or protected simultaneously. A lot people aren’t taking into account that it can only protect one-third of its coverage and are assuming the air sweeper can protect 1/4 of the base. In order to truly use Air Sweeper’s radius to it’s fullest, you need to control the remaining 2/3 of its coverage and not have the enemies be the ones who dictate it, as well as the fact that you must anticipate that there is a possibly that the enemy will want to come in from the back side. Use the 3 Different Uses of Air Sweeper fully when it comes to the other 2/3 side for better success.

So to an Air Sweeper there are 3 Elements:

    1/3 Protected Zone

    2/3 Unprotected Zone

    Back side of the Air Sweeper

I. Protecting the Center is BAD

In this example, you can see that they are trying to protect the front of the AD area with the air sweeper.

The problem with this example is that the enemy is able to come in from the left side and/or the right side of your defenses. These two Wizard towers will be destroyed quickly while everything is distracted by the Lava.

So in terms of 1/3 zone, it’ll do a decent job in protecting and it has a nice effect of deterring. However, in terms of the 2/3 unprotected zone, it becomes completely irrelevant and does not protect itself well. The Back Side of the Air Sweeper is safe though since most likely the other territories of the base is protected.

II. Avoid Protecting 2 ADs with the Air Sweeper

Protecting 2 ADs is far worse than trying to protect one AD due to the fact that the ‘territory’ that both ADs cover is roughly half your base.

In terms 1/3 zone, it’ll provide reasonable protection, but it’ll more likely stall the enemy rather than deter them. Even though the air sweeper covers the other 2/3 it will be unprotected since the sweeper is locked onto the hound a few tiles away and as a result the laloon portion will carry on as normal. In terms of the back side of the Air Sweeper, since the fact that the enemy would have killed 1/4 of the base, it’s basically an invitation for them to attack from behind (which could be used to your advantage), and negate the AS completely.

III. Air Sweeper should protect 1/3 and stall the remaining 2/3

The most effective way to use the Air Sweeper is to Protect 1/3 on one side. Give the enemy this section to deal with, but have control over the remaining 2/3 of the radius as well as anticipate the enemy could possible come in from the back side.

What this does is enforces a strict separation between the Lava hounds on the 1/3 zone, and having a Anti-Loon zone on the 2/3 half, as well as the fact that with this set up, you know they might attack from the back side.

As a metaphor, you can say The 1/3 AD zone is your shield, the 2/3 Wizard tower zone is your Sword, and since you already perfected the front, you are also anticipating any back stabbing enemy as well. With this set up, you can protect the front, and/or use the back as a bait.

IV. Shield the Front, Protect the Back

After I saw this image, I thought this was actually a clever way to shield the front fully, and bait the enemy to come in from behind. It’s like having a Shield at the front fully, but what you are doing is preparing yourself from behind. Although the Air Sweeper could be a sacrifice, you are forcing your enemy to decide whether or not to do a straight push or to come from behind. If they do a straight push, chances are your defense is going to win. If they come in from the back, you have already layed a trap to absorb their assault from behind. It will require you to make your base better and set up the ‘trap’ properly though.