Air Sweeper Placement Guide (TH7-8)
Published January 11, 2016.
When it comes to TH7-8, there are 3 main attacks which are being used for War. Dragons, Hogs and Valks-Loons. This guide is to help TH7-8 base builders as a suggestion in order to maximize the effectiveness of Air Sweeper, whether it's to guard the front for real, or for them attack from behind, you have to make it so that if they do attack from behind, they will have to pay the price. When it comes to using Air Sweeper, TH8 is much more simple minded compared to TH9, so Air Sweeper has only one target, which is Dragons. This guide is only good for TH7-8 and TH9 is a completely different world so this guide does NOT apply to TH9 and above.
An Air Sweeper is useless if doesn't face the direction of the attack. To effectively use air sweeper in TH7-8, you have to consider the fact that people will go the opposite sides/behind the air sweeper as well, so in order to build a good base that takes advantage of Air Sweeper, you need to anticipate and make it hard for the enemy to attack from the front as well as guarding from behind. The rule when it comes to base building is the word 'exchange', of course blocking in from the front you can negate the enemy's attacks, but also be aware of behind and to the sides is important as well. If you plan everything to block from the front, but is extremely weak from the back, the enemy can easily exploit that weakness.
Please note, that this isn't an iron clad guide that all bases must follow, but it's a nice suggestion and a good way to effectively maximize the usage of the single AS on a TH7-8 base. Also note that I am a TH9 so the upgrade images are TH9 level, but the placement of the defenses is what you are looking at. If you actually managed to make a base using these examples, good for you and I hope you can later on help your fellow clashers.
To Read a simpler explanation of Air Sweeper which I have published when Air Sweeper came out, please visit my [Air Sweeper Analysis and Findings] Page.
An Air Sweeper is useless if doesn't face the direction of the attack. To effectively use air sweeper in TH7-8, you have to consider the fact that people will go the opposite sides/behind the air sweeper as well, so in order to build a good base that takes advantage of Air Sweeper, you need to anticipate and make it hard for the enemy to attack from the front as well as guarding from behind. The rule when it comes to base building is the word 'exchange', of course blocking in from the front you can negate the enemy's attacks, but also be aware of behind and to the sides is important as well. If you plan everything to block from the front, but is extremely weak from the back, the enemy can easily exploit that weakness.
Please note, that this isn't an iron clad guide that all bases must follow, but it's a nice suggestion and a good way to effectively maximize the usage of the single AS on a TH7-8 base. Also note that I am a TH9 so the upgrade images are TH9 level, but the placement of the defenses is what you are looking at. If you actually managed to make a base using these examples, good for you and I hope you can later on help your fellow clashers.
To Read a simpler explanation of Air Sweeper which I have published when Air Sweeper came out, please visit my [Air Sweeper Analysis and Findings] Page.
Air Sweeper Take into Consideration the Objective of Dragon-ers
When it comes to dragons there are a few simple things you have to take into consideration when it comes to attackers.
1) find out which of the 3 ADs being destroyed by spells and will be the most beneficial on the long run
2) which of the two AD can dragons be able to be funneled towards afterwards.
3) Find the most beneficial funnel path that isn't being hindered by Air Sweeper
Some things that you have to consider when you are building a base to defend against Dragons
1) minimum 2 storages per AD pathing.
2) corner builder hut
3) positioning of Air Sweeper
Now when it comes to attackers and building a base, you usually want to build it to be able to defend against the strongest attackers of that Town hall Level. Of course if that wasn't the case, you wouldn't be reading this guide :P. Air Sweeper is one of the most useful building which is what I call the 'unstable factor' since the fact that the enemy cannot predict what the troops will be doing under the influence of Air Sweeper. If you have read my Air Sweeper's Finding guide, you would know the fact that Air Sweeper puts the element of uncertainty towards attacking, so all the smart attackers WILL try to minimize the amount of damage that Air Sweeper can do by trying to circumvent it. If you have placed the Air Sweeper poorly, the enemy WILL open up that weakness in order to 3 star your base.
You can either anticipate this weakness and plan a counter-attack, or you can feint being non-threatening, but place traps and teslas at the locations where they would last attack. Options and balancing out your base to combat such weaknessmust be considered and cannot allow such a big opportunity for the enemy to gain the advantage.
1) find out which of the 3 ADs being destroyed by spells and will be the most beneficial on the long run
2) which of the two AD can dragons be able to be funneled towards afterwards.
3) Find the most beneficial funnel path that isn't being hindered by Air Sweeper
Some things that you have to consider when you are building a base to defend against Dragons
1) minimum 2 storages per AD pathing.
2) corner builder hut
3) positioning of Air Sweeper
Now when it comes to attackers and building a base, you usually want to build it to be able to defend against the strongest attackers of that Town hall Level. Of course if that wasn't the case, you wouldn't be reading this guide :P. Air Sweeper is one of the most useful building which is what I call the 'unstable factor' since the fact that the enemy cannot predict what the troops will be doing under the influence of Air Sweeper. If you have read my Air Sweeper's Finding guide, you would know the fact that Air Sweeper puts the element of uncertainty towards attacking, so all the smart attackers WILL try to minimize the amount of damage that Air Sweeper can do by trying to circumvent it. If you have placed the Air Sweeper poorly, the enemy WILL open up that weakness in order to 3 star your base.
You can either anticipate this weakness and plan a counter-attack, or you can feint being non-threatening, but place traps and teslas at the locations where they would last attack. Options and balancing out your base to combat such weaknessmust be considered and cannot allow such a big opportunity for the enemy to gain the advantage.
Incorrect/Less Effective Way of Using Air Sweeper
Looking at this image, you can see the fact that the Air Sweeper is pointing towards one/two of the ADs. If the enemy uses Zap-Quake on the left AD, they can still triangulate and funnel the Dragons BEHIND the direction of which AS is facing and get the remaining 2 ADs (with assistance of CC Lv6 Loons). In this example, The AS has deterred the opponent from attacking from the left, but the fact is there is the option on the right side which they can still easily attack and get both ADs and have left over dragons. The Air Sweeper in this type of base is only effective if the enemy tries to attack from the left side, but the fact is the base places equally the amount of weight on the right side. The Air Sweeper in this example is only effective if the opponent tries to go for the hard route, but majority of the time, the attacker will take advantage of the fact that the back side is unprotected.
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Correct Way/Effective Way Of Using Air Sweeper
Before we begin, please note that I am a TH9 so the images are of TH9 upgrade Level, but the placement what's important, as well as the fact that these compartments are just example compartments used for the sake of explaining.
The most effective way (which I thought of) of placing AS is to face ALL 3 of these Air Defenses. I'll discuss the Tesla Farm in a later sections. Having the Air Sweeper facing all Three Air Defenses allow it so that no matter which of the 3 AIr Defenses they try to Lightning, the Air Sweeper will be able to shoot at the remaining two Air Defense. If the Air Sweeper is only facing one AD, the opponent has the advantage of being able to chose 2 ADs and attacking from the sides of the AS. Having the Air Sweeper face all 3 ADs allows you to know that it will push dragons no matter what in the front view of Air Sweeper. But due to the fact that the effectiveness of Air Sweeper protection is being played, the enemy attack will now try to attack from behind the AS which you can use to your advantage. Taking Out from The Left/Right Side
In this scenario, you can see the fact that if they Zap-quake that bottom right AD, or the mirror Bottom Left AD, there will STILL be two remaining ADs that the enemy has to dragon. No matter which of these two AD they destroy, the AS will still effectively be able to target dragons that are coming in from the AD direction. This gives a high chance of you being able to defend against Dragons if the enemy wants to have a frontal assault. Decent to low level attackers will go ahead and hard-vs-hard against your base and against the flow of the AS which is what you want to happen. But for the smarter attackers/top attackers they know the fact that attacking from this angle puts their dragons to a disadvantage so they'll op-ed for going in from behind, taking out the furthest AD.
Taking Out from The Furthest: Great-Wall the ADs, Protect the Back Side
Now here is where the mind games begin. Since the fact that you and the enemy knows that a frontal assault is not a wise choice, the attacker will op to attack from behind the Air Sweeper. With this in mind, you also now have the option to either completely set up and defend the back side of the air sweeper, or the fact that you completely empty out that back side of the air sweeper and make it so that there is an 'surprise'/anti-air location on the opposite side, complementary to the Air sweeper. The Green is good placement for air defense, while the red is good placement for Tesla zones.
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Take Advantage of the Incorrect Way (Feinting), Protecting only 1-2 ADs on Purpose
Let's say for example, you did the 'incorrect' way of doing the AS on purpose. Now you be able to anticipate the fact that the enemy WILL intentionally try to kill the AD that is the hardest to get, making getting the remaining two AD easier to Dragon. The moment they finish completing the twin AD kill, they are left with wondering dragons. If you create a complementary Kill Zone that is opposite of the Two Air Defenses, and provide a "great wall" with Tesla Farm, 2 Archer Towers being protected on the opposite side of the Twin AD, these can easily combat the remaining amount of dragons that aren't together. The advantage of this over the previous way of having all 3 ADs protected is the it feints the element of being 'not really well built' but in fact, it secretly already taken into consideration that the Tesla Farms will counter and is complementary positioning of the twin ADs.
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The Complementary "Zones" of the Base
So when it comes to designing a base, it's all within the balance. A base with a good balance with different locations of Kill Zones, and different places where the enemy has to start and end from is what you have to do. If they come in from the front, greet them with traps and hard DPS. If they come in from behind, give it to them, but make it so that they don't have control of the remaining of their troops. So when it comes to Air Sweeper placement, I've mostly only used "Flat" Air ADs facing Two ADs in front, and one AD at the back, but now there is the other option of having One AD at the front, and Two AD at the back. Here are the 'ideal' Kill Zones for which to consider
Flat - 2 ADs in Front, 1 AD behind
When it comes to the 'Flat" facing AD to AS type of base, it's more to do with "Half and Half" where it deals with from behind and from the front. If they attack from the front they have a harder hitting point defenses to consider. If they hit from the back, they will have to leave that remaining Kill Zone in the end.
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Triangular - 1 AD in Front, 2 Behind
Now when it comes to the Triangular shaped AS, you can make it so that there are 3 locations of Kill Zones the enemy has to consider. They won't come in from the front, so if they kill 2, there still will be the remaining side of point defenses that dragons have to move across the base in order to get to.
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Credits
I'm giving some credits to Lennett and TheUnfazed who motivated me to do this guide.
