Precision Hogging

[Strone: This is a rough translation of a post in Chinese forum. Those of you with proficiency in Chinese can read it here http://coc.5253.com/1510/308584762666.html.]

Foreword

This is a strategy article on (2 golem) precision hogging.

History as I know it

Around beginning of 2015, renowned CoCer madfrog said “maximize of attack efficiency” is key to success of attacking in CoC. Some TH9 players realized that using Giants/Barbs to tank can reduce the damage hog groups take, and maximize their output. This method has gain popularity in CC drawing, and early destroy of singular defenses. This is often seen in preparation phase of early 1-golem hogging and mixed Gowiwi. And using a Giant and several hogs to destroy an area of defense can be regarded as early form of precision hogging.

[Caption: Giant with 5 unit spacing + 20 unit spacing of balloon causes much more damage than 25 unit spacing of balloons.]

With the increase of damage hogs receiving from giant bombs. The original hogging with mass deploying of hogs no longer works. To counter double giant bombs, deploy hogs separately, and let most hogs survive, is a “maximize of attack efficiency” using at a global scale. And precision hogging is upon us.

How it works

After queen and CC is dealt with, divide enemy bases into several clusters. Within each cluster use tank + hogs. The way is to use 1 giant and 4-5 hogs to destroy each defense cluster. Because most of the time the hogs will not converge (except at the end, which will be discussed later), the threat of giant bombs is reduced. About how to divide bases into clusters. I do it based on the outer defenses.

[Caption: These are samples of bases that can be precision hogged. Only look at the Outmost defenses. Yellow dots are point defenses. Blue dots are wiz towers.[

 

Bases it works on

From above analysis we found that precision hogging works on bases that divided into zones (flower petals). And maybe not so well on bases shape like a dumbbell.

Base on this, if you see bases with the following, 3-star will be easier.

·         Point defense (archer tower/cannon) are toward outside (Giant+hog combination offers more value)

·         Kill squad’s path cover more empty spaces (potential giant bombs and teslas are cleared by kill squad)

·         Kill squad’s path lead King or Golem to a Xbow. (See skills)

·         Sunflower shape (360 symmetry), open core. (Easy to hog, King and Golem can output more)

If you see bases with the following, 3-star will be more difficult:

·         Defenses (especially point defenses) are towards inside and Giant can not attract their attention easily.

·         4 teslas or 4 wiz towers are highly concentrated (large hog casualties locally)

·         Targetted [Defense-Spring Trap-Defense-Spring Trap] chain close to the outside. (Cause disruption to hog army right after they get into the base)

 Like in base below, we have space between defenses and extra wall unit. We can almost be certain there are springing traps there. Hogs will be sprung randomly and hard to control the outcome.

 

 

Steps

Army: My army is almost fixed, many cases it does not vary with bases. I may make changes but usually it is <10 army spaces.

2 Golem (one in CC), 5-6 wiz, 1 witch, 3-4 giants, 26 hogs, 3 wallbreakers, rest archer/barbs, 1 Jump/2 Heal/1 Rage/1 Poison

·         2 Golem/wiz clean outside –

·         Witch behind for better stability –

·         wall breakers break walls –

·         King/Queen/wiz with Jump/Rage –

·         Poison CC –

·         Clockwise or counter-clockwise precision hogging with 1 giant with several hogs, 2-3 hogs for each outer defense –

·         Heal at wiz tower or potential/known giant bombs –

·         archer/barbs for cleanup

[Here an online video is attached. You can search for "Precision Hogging" or "Surgical Hogging" on Youtube for examples.]

Skills (Details)

The following are details (devils are in the details).

Follow the steps and it seems fairly simple, but in reality it is sometime hard to guarantee success. Some player get 3 stars but do not know why it worked some times and not others. Here is my take on the finer points of precision hogging:

1.       Foreplay – Kill squad of Golems/Heros to clean outside, kill CC and queen.

·         Golems need to be separated. It should be as far as possible, but also be able to move once the wall breakers break walls. You do not want them to continue hitting walls once the wall is broken. Separating golems means that you cover for wizards so that they continue to live and contribute to cleanup.

·        Do not send golems for the wall you want to wall break! Do not send golems for the wall you want to wall break! Do not send golems for the wall you want to wall break! Wiz tower, xbow and mortar 1-hit wall breakers. For high level TH9 play, failed wall break means failed attack. Other 2 Golem foreplay, such as jumping Valkyries, Giant/Wiz 2 star TH10 all follow this rule.

 

·         Queen can be put down early, King need to be hold until the outside is clear, otherwise he may wander off. The position and timing of the 2 heros shows the experience of the player.

·         Why I like rage instead of heal for kill squad? I am not so sure. Experts in our clan generally find it easier to kill CC with rage. If you have confidence killing CC, Poison can be saved later for skeletons (not easy to use and often forget).

·         (This is advanced stuff) Some may wonder why I keep a witch. Today the common CC is dragon/hound/balloons. The hard thing to deal with is dragon/balloons. With a good base, the side with the queen often have high HP buildings. While Queen and wiz are still outside, King and golem already go in for the queen. At this time golem and King are not protected and do not move fast. They are susceptible to attacks from dragon and balloons. This is a high risk scenario. Many times a level 30 King can see red in 1 sec. I have never see this after bringing the witch. The balloon attacks are slow and attracted to skeletons that are fast moving. Another advantage is skeletons help trigger giant bombs on the side.

·         (This is advanced stuff) For direction of killing the queen, I have several rules

o   Path to the queen have more empty spaces

o   Path to the queen can reach a Xbow with a Jump

o   Jump can cover more compartments.

Many in my clan do not follow 2 and 3. Most people choose the incision point to be the one facing the queen, then choose the wall breaking point. (I don't)

I often choose the xbow closest to the queen. An ignored xbow is the biggest threat to hogs.

For 3, people think the obvious reason for Jump to cover more compartment is better value and destroy more buildings. I think the better reason is King and Golems can keep moving (balloons can not attack them effectively). Even wiz may miss a moving target.

 

2.       Precision Hogging – the busy part. Some people say you need fast hand. Actually you need better overall view, the deployment is not as critical as lavaloonian.

·         Every defense cluster: deplay a giant. Usually there are not more than 3 of these clusters. Wait till the giants attracked attention of defenses before deploying hogs.

·         2-3 hogs for each outer defense. If tesla jumps out, add 2 hogs

·         Usually after 2 armies of giant+hogs, you need to go back and add heal, where the first army is running towards the second army. It is best to deploy it to cover empty spaces and wiz towers.

·         The second heal is kept until the hogs converge at the end. I said before this is the only time hogs converge. It is easy for wiz tower to damage them in a few seconds. And there maybe double giant bombs in the last few empty spaces. And to counter this I have a very good idea –

[Precision Hogging can be clockwise or counter clockwise, when you choose, choose the one where hogs converge to a point where there are few of empty spaces, see below]

 

 

 Let's look at an example:

 

3.       Cleanup -- 100% or 99%

Time management is very important and many cases the attack will last till the last seconds.
Leave some wiz or archer/barbs for cleanup. Do not throw everything into the kill squad. I bring 5-6 wiz, and only 4 is enough for the kill squad (high level heroes). Add them opposite to where hogs and queen end up are. This will help cleanup in case where not many hogs survives.

In many cases high level heroes will survive till the end. King will go red when he get close to enemy queen. The queen usually go red during hogging. Pay attention and remember to open their abilities.

GoHo Strategy

Strone in Norcal Crew is ShadowWarrior in Quantom Flop. A lot of the people in the clan already knew. Just want to get it out of the way.

I am writing this as a strategy on GoHo. First of all I am not an expert on GoHo. Master GoHo’er on the internet claim they can take down any TH9 bases with GoHo. (I do believe it since I have been trying Precision Hogging a couple of times with various level of success). I am still at a stage where I am picking bases mostly and hitting mid-low TH9s for the most part.

 

GoHo strategy developed over the last 1-2 years when giant bomb damage to hogs has been increased. I never had chance to try it on my main account (Strone). It is one of the reason I created ShadowWarrior to try it out (and other new things like Lavaloon).

 
Basics of GoHo is to use a kill squad (Golems, heros, wiz, witches) to kill enemy queen and CC before sending in hogs. Real simple.

Operating a Kill Squad is a very good skill to master. It will help you succeed in other strategy as well (e.g. GoLaLoon).

Army Composition

I go with 2 Golems (1 in CC), 10 wiz, 4 wallbreakers, 2 archers, 28 hogs. I have seen people use 3 Golems in kill squad to get deeper. I think as your heroes get stronger, you can use more golems to keep them alive and deal more damage. They will cover more ground: cover giant bomb spot, attract kill teslas and xbows. If your heroes are weak, just concentrate on kill the queen and CC and leave the rest to your hogs.

 

I usually only need 6 wiz for kill squad, the 4 left are used for cleanup (I do not normally need that many). If you are up against tough bases, you can change to 30-31 hogs.

 

For spells, I have been trying 4 heals, or 3 heal 1 jump. For weak kill squad, your hogs will cover more ground and the extra heal will help a lot.  For strong kill squad, you can reach queen that is deeper in the core. The jump is then necessary to attract/kill queen and other defenses. In the war before last I have only 1 hero (king upgrading). I went for weaker bases and used 4 heals. For this war I have both heros and a moderately strong kill squad. I went for stronger bases with deep queens and used 1 jump.

Base Selection

For starters, look for bases with few double giant bomb spots. For example, no.16 in this war is a good candidate. No.15 in this war is not a good candidate, so mass hogging need to be changed to precision hogging (I will translate an article to cover that subject). Also, look at previous attacks on the same base, it gives you CRUCIAL information: where giant bombs are. In many cases you can deduce where they are by looking at where teslas are. There are just so many empty spaces in the base.

The more outside enemy queen is, the easier it is to GoHo. Basically it gives you more option for less kill squad and more hogs. But to fully utilize your Golems, you would want to engage you enemy defenses. Just like in other attacks, if your golems live toward the end of the war and wacking walls, it is not a sign of an efficient attack. The golems should be tanking for your other troops and die before your other troops.

Step 1: Kill Squad

Send in the kill squad. I usually draw CC. I have seen expert don't draw and succeed, but draw CC is just my preference. Usually if you do not draw you need to spend a spell. I like to spend a couple troops instead. So this will also be part of base selection that I currently employ. Today I normally will not attack a base if I do not know the content of the CC and its CC cannot be drawn.

Today, CC usually contains dragon+, or hound. For dragon+ I just throw a poison on them. It will reduce dragon to half health and kill everything else.

If there is a replay and you can draw ground skeleton traps cheaply, draw it too.

Choose a side close to queen and hopefully covers a lot of empty spaces (possible giant bomb spots). Choose attacking angle/side.

Drop 2 golems with APPROPRIATE space. By appropriate, I mean not too wide and not too close together. You certainly want them apart to tank more space for you wiz. But after you wallbreak or jump, you do not want them too far away and ignore you.

The other thing is if queen is toward the outside, you want to wait till it is closer to you. Sometimes a queen shooting at you behind walls is very hard to get to. Take a look at my attack in the war previous to this. I waited till the queen is outside of a wall before I drop golems.

Drop wiz. Remember, No.1 priority for wiz is to clean outside. So your heroes will not stray off.

Drop queen in the middle, facing queen and approaching CC.

Wait a couple seconds before the outer buildings are almost gone. Wall break.

When you see a clear path to the enemy queen. Drop the King.

Do not wait too long to enable King abilities. I usually activate it when it is down to 60-70% health, or when it is under heavy fire.

Step 2: Hogs

I find this part to be relatively simple. Some people plan very carefully about the path of hogs. I just go with the flow. Drop hogs in 1-2 armies and drop heal where needed.

If you have a weak kill squad, there maybe still a lot of defenses in the center. The path of hogs are more unpredictable.

If you have a strong kill squad, you usually have taken a quadrant already. You just deploy your hogs on one side and it will go a L shaped path across other 3 quadrant.

There is actually a fine point on deciding whether to choose clockwise or counter-clockwise. You would want to have fewer empty spaces at the end. I find it easier to deal with bombs in the beginning than towards the end.

I usually keep 2-3 hogs in hand but that is just me. Hogs after all defenses destroyed are like wiz, they are great at cleanup and can jump walls.

 

TH8 base

This is the TH8 war base I used with good results. Click on it to see larger picture.