Andrew Lai's Strategy Guide/Ch.3-Layouts

Hi there! This is my third guide of my strategy guide series: the defensive guide! here I'll start with descriptions of every defenses and how should you place them wisely. I'll share some good layouts/ designs with you too!
==Defenses==
Defenses are basically things that stop invading enemies from your base. They can be further categorized by...
#Single/ splash damage?
#Air targeting ability?
and they consists of some main stats...
*Damage per second (DPS)
*Range
*Type of damage
*Targeting
*Favorite target
and so on.
===Cannon: great damage dealer===
Cannons will be the first defense unlocked, and it proves to be a great single target defense. They shoots one bullet on one troop only, causing medium to high damage. But the mighty cannons can't hurt air troops, plus their single target shots means that they could be easily overwhelmed. It's not advisable to put them near the center of your villiage, as it is better used as a front line defense.
Best defending...
*Giants
But can be destroyed by...
*Hordes of troops
*Air troops
===Archer Tower: not so strong but yet useful===
Much like cannons, ATs does single target attacks but dishes less damage than canons. They, however, can target air troops! This proves useful against minions but still could be overwhelmed by many troops. Most will put the with cannons to protect them from air raids, but centralized ATs are not unseen as its air targeting capability.
Best defending...
*Giants
*Low HP air troops
But can be destroyed by...
*Hordes of troops
===Mortar: Splash terror===
Get troubled while using single target defenses against mass armies? Now vaporize them with the first splash defense unlocked: the mortar. Every design will heavily protect them as they are very important in every level as mass raids are very popular. Though it's useful, it still have 4 main weaknesses: Cannot target air, Have a blind spot where troops will become safe from that mortar, low shot rate/ accuracy and it's low DPS. Don't put mortars near the edge of your village as their blind spot will be exposed!
Best defending...
*Mass armies of low HP troops
But can be destroyed by...
*Giants
*Healed troops
*Air troops
===Air defense: Air-space defender===
This defense is different. It doesn't bother to move when raided by land troops, but shows its fury against air raids! The air defense deals massive damage to air troops and has a superb range. It's advised to ignore at low levels, but must be kept inside in higher levels as air raids become more popular.
Best defending...
*Air troops
But can be destroyed by...
* Many air troops
* Land troops
===Wizard tower: Splash Horror===
Wizard towers does splash damage just like mortars. They do less damage per shot, but have better attack speed and can target air troops too. It sound's like a better mortar, but why mortars are still useful? Firstly, Wizard towers has a very short range compared to mortars and secondly the Wizard tower costs much more than a mortar. Put Wizard towers near the edge or center are both acceptable.
Best defending...
*Mass raids (land/air)
But can be destroyed by...
*High HP troops
===Hidden Tesla: powerful electro-horror===
This only hidden defense is a very strong single target defense, and it can really scare your enemy! This defense does high DPS, but holds low HP and its single targeted. Bare in mind that these defenses deals double damage to P.E.K.K.A.s!
Best defending...
*Relatively high HP units
*Heroes
But can be destroyed by...
*Many units
*High DPS troops
===X-bow: Rapid damage===
The X-bow is one of the most devastating defenses in the game. It has two modes: Land/ Land-air. Land only mode makes the x-bow the defense with longest range (14 tiles), and the x-bow has highest health and 2nd highest fire rate at max level. Its extremely long range makes it difficult to reach if its placed in the center and it can soak up more damage. You'll need high hp troops (Many giants, golems, etc.) to destroy one more efficiently.
Best defending...
*Literally anything but golems and lava hounds
But can be destroyed by...
*High HP and DPS troops
*High DPS troops with meat-shield
===Inferno tower: Troop devourer===
The tower of troop's doom is the strongest defense yet exists. It fires a beam of hellfire which does immense damage to a single troop. Alternatively, you may switch the tower to multi-target mode and do pretty high damage to five units at a time! It can also block healing effects, too,which makes them more difficult to stand against! But still, it has to be refilled with dark elixir, and it's range is quite low. However, the above two disadvantages seems to be the only ones...
Best defending...
*High HP troops (at least better than other defenses~)
*Troops relying on healers
But can be destroyed by...
*Large group of troops
==Traps==
Traps are special defenses which...
*Is hidden until triggered
*Can be used once only
*Must be rearmed with gold
===Bombs===
These are cheap little stuff and can hurt quite a lot of troops in one shot, but are way too ineffective to high HP troops.
Best defending...
*Mass low HP troops
But can be wasted on...
*Single Goblin (too fast)
*High HP troops
====Giant bombs====
Basically they're bigger bombs that does massive damage lethal to most tier 1-2 troops, but more expensive. It also deals 1.5x damage on hog riders. However, they can be easily spotted as they are much larger than normal bombs. Place them in less obvious spots!
===Spring Traps===
These pesky traps springs 15 housing unit of troops off the screen! (Relax...it won't hit your face)
Best defending...
*Giants
But can be wasted on...
*Troops of 16+ housing space
*Heroes
===Air bombs===
They're simply bombs targeting air troops. Place them near air defenses are a pretty nice choice.
Best Defending...
*Minion groups
*Balloons
But can be wasted on...
*All other air troops, especially Lava Hounds
====Seeking air mines====
They are much better air bombs that only targets one air troop. But it does enough damage to almost one-shot a similar level dragon, so becareful! They works pretty well near air defenses, in fact better than air bombs!Note: doesn't affect minions!
==Clan Castle, King & Queen and Skeleton traps!==
Apart from normal defenses and traps, there are yet another sort of special defenses: the smarter, moving and distracting defenses! The three listed kind of defenses are all about distraction, and they should be strategically placed to be used well...
===Clan castle===
These structures appears as ruins in the beginning and cost you 40000 gold to rebuild. Once rebuilt you may join a clan! But some of you will ask: why would this help defend your base? YES clan castle troops is a very important part of a defense!
If you're in an active clan, you may receive clan castle troops for defense/offense uses. As for defense, there are some useful troops suggestions:
#Archers: the archers are generally accepted as the best clan castle troop! It's cheap, ranged and slow to lure out.
#Wizards: these damage dealers wreaks havoc in giant/balloon raids and makes 0% possible, however they're much more expensive.
#Dragon: they are also expensive, but has many hp and can thus distract for a longer time.
#Valkyrie: if pure barbarian/giant army meets a defending valk, i guarantee a nice 0%.
Actually most troops suits in the clan castle! Just remember that wall breakers definitely won't help!
Now to the mechanics: there is a 'range' of a clan castle, and as attacking troops touches the range, the defending troops pops out one by one. Smart attackers can lure out all defending troops to the corner and pick them off with a circle of archers/ lightning spell, so to counteract this, if you always request for defending troops, put you clan castle in the middle of your base! Therefore, your enemy has to sacrifice so many troops to lure out the troops completely!
===King/ Queen===
These are up to you! King/ Queen are simillar to cc-troops, however they are stronger and are unable to lure out to another area. You may either place them near important buildings (recommended) or place them near the sides (to save up walls/ space).
===Skeleton traps===
These traps also works like clan castle troops, but added the fact that this is hidden! It's totally up to you to decide where should you place them, but be sure to surprise and scare attackers with this pesky trap!
==Base designs==
Apparently, there are a lot of good base layouts that already exists. In fact, there are endless of possibility when designing bases! Therefore, determining whether a design is good or not is important. Here I'll share some basic bases ideas and their pros/cons!
===Big box base===
The idea is to enclose everything inside a single layer of walls. It is a popular base for newbies, but indeed this is a bad design. Why? If the only layer of wall is breached, then the rest of the wall will render useless and enemy can gain access to every building in your base.
Difficulty:★☆☆☆☆
===Split base===
These base have 2 or more sections separated from each other. This is a Bad design. Why? People often believe that "If one section is raided, others can survive". This is clearly a misconception, because Split bases weakens the defense network.and make the base easier to destroy.
Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆
===Inner and outer wall===
These bases have two layers of walls as shown in the title. Resources inside and defenses in the outer layer. This is a faily good base. Why? This base can make giants circle around your base without actually touching your resources. It also gives enough support to most buildings.
Difficulty:★★★☆☆
===Cyclone (swirl) bases===
These bases are tricky: they are build like a whirlpool and lures enemy troops to spin around, which is a good design. Why? The enemy will easily be lured into heavily defended zones or into pesky traps, making short work on enemy troops.
Difficulty:★★★☆☆
===Pocketed (checkered) bases===
These bases gives most defenses a section pn their own, making a complex maze, which is good. Why? Because of the walls between everything, It's very hard to maneuver through the base in a predictable way. Also, the dividing walls greatly slow down lamd troops, making a chance for defenses to hammer them.
Difficulty:★★★★☆
==Make your own base!==
If none of the above pre-existing ideas helps you out, you may want to make it by your own instead! However, there are some tips you may want to know...
===Basics===
====Wall concepts====
One very important component of a good base is good wall placement. You'll need better walls to...
#Slow down/ stop enemy troops
#Alter the path/ target of enemy troops
(And perhaps to make your base looks harder to raid. This is very true as our human instincts tell us to determine the difficulty of a base by the major colour of walls.)
I recommend having walls of at least one level lower than your town hall level before a town hall upgrade. (i.e. at least lv5 walls for th6 (6-1=5), at least lv7 walls for th8 (8-1=7), etc.)
=====A) No double walls!=====
Double walls IS NOT equivalent to double protection! Wall breakers have splash damage, which can blow up two layers of walls in one go, therefore quite meaningless. Archers and wizards can also shoot over double walls.
If you really want to protect a special spot with walls, I recommend having two lines of walls with a gap between them. Therefore, the attacker needs twice amount of wall breakers to breach and archers and wizards will have to target the walls first or simply lured away.
=====B) Nothing can replace walls!=====
Note that the following CANNOT replace wall segments! 
*Buildings
*Decorations
*Obstacles
*The border
*Traps and Hidden teslas
====What to put inside walls?====
Walls are indeed limited, so we should know what is more important to you!
=====a) Barracks, army camps, builder huts, spell factory, laboratory=====
Definitely not. They serves no purpose when destroyed and shouldn't be heavily protected.
=====b) Defenses=====
Inside walls, as much as you can-- especially splash defenses, which is extremely useful against engaging troops. Your defenses are the only thing other than traps and cc that can stop enemy troops in their tracks!
=====c) Resource storages=====
Inside walls, and the reason is obvious, right?
=====d) Collectors/mines=====
Well you may want to have them more protected, but probably not inside walls in order to save up walls for other purposes.
=====e) Town hall=====
That depends on if you are a farmer or not. Please visit Ch.1 of my strategy guide!
====Upgrading priority====
Choosing what or what not to upgrade is difficult, and this choice usually differs between players! Some upgrade mortars first, some wants better teslas, while some will say air defenses are more important... However, here I'm giving you the basic concept of this. The choice is still yours!
=====Cannons=====
One of the cheapest defense to upgrade, it may not be the best defense, but it's recommended for you to upgrade them earlier. It should be pretty easy to be maxed out at your town hall level, therefore try to do so!
=====Archer towers=====
Its recommended for you to at least try to max out them before next town hall upgrade, however it will be much harsher. Still it worths upgrading, but probably not the first to upgrade at higher levels.
=====Mortars=====
Definitely get the best mortar level you can! Mortars are excellent at all town hall levels, so they should be upgraded ASAP. However, they becomes more and more expensive at higher levels, so they should be upgraded gradually, but not at once. Also, never upgrade more than one mortar at the same time! Your base is more vulnerable while having too much mortars being unavailable!
=====Wizard towers=====
These towers gets more and more terrifying at each level up, and they should be upgraded too, however not so often because of its price-- loss of both massive amount of gold and a key splash defense. Avoid upgrading more than one wizard tower at the same time too!
=====Air defenses=====
They should be a priority to upgrade too as they are lethal to all-air armies, but they are way too important to defending air raids, therefore never upgrade more than one air defense at the same time too! Also air defense has a long upgrade time too, so keep in mind of that.
=====Hidden teslas=====
They are quite expensive and slow to upgrade, therefore I would not upgrade tham so soon. They should be upgraded after other defenses, however do not neglect them too as they are still very useful!
=====X-bows=====
These powerful defenses requires so many gold to upgrade, therefore I do not recommend you to upgrade them so early. In fact they shoupd be upgraded almost last before next town hall upgrade due to its high cost. However, it doesn't hurt getting higher level x-bows if you have the money required!
=====Inferno towers=====
Similar fasion to x-bows, these legendary defenses are too costly to even buy one, but they worth upgrading, however probably not the first thing to upgrade.
===Advanced===
====Is your base attractive to attackers?====
The best defense is to avoid attacks completely. If your base is a very tempting target, then you will be very vulnerable.
Here are some ways to make your base harder and less profitable to raid:
# Upgrade your walls! This is the first thing the attacker will see and they would surely prefer a light-greyish base rather than a dark purple one!
#Empty your collectors and mines frequently! Collector raids are very easy and profitable and people often like base with most loot uncollected from collectors/ mines.
#Don't expose your critical defenses, such as mortars and more importantly, AIR DEFENSES! A base with all air defenses easy to reach is very very weak against air raids and healers.exposed mortars also helps barch or barbarian rush.
#Keep the loot total as low as possible! Unless you are saving up resources for big upgrades, do not leave too many resource in your storages and use them up frequently!
#Of course, an epic layout can help scare possible attackers away!
====Funneling====
Funnelling is a very important part of a good base! The basic concept is to have a gap/lure wher troops will be attracted and grouped into, then...POOF! You can now finish all of them off in a single blow!
#Open a gap in your wall. The gap is not suggested to be leading to critical buildings or defenses, but you may if you wish.
#Place a trap of your favour inside! (Bombs, Giant bombs and springs will do the best. Air traps are not recommended)
#(Optional, but suggested) Place one or even more splash defenses where it's range can cover the gap and deliver the killing blow! BOOM!
====Co-ordination of defenses====
Some defenses works better with another! Place them carefully!
=====1) Wizard Towers + Mortars=====
Both of them are splash defenses as you see, but they actually greatly differs from one another! Mortars have longer range than WT's, but have a big blind spot. Mortars are slower too. However, WTs have less DPS than Mortars. That's why they have to work together! Mortars can cover where the WTs can't reach, while the WTs can protect Mortars' blind spot, plus air protection too.
=====2) Archer Towers + Cannons=====
Same here. Comparing the two single target defenses, ATs have longer range plus air defend capability, while cannons have higher DPS. They work well together as first-line defense and protect splash defenses.
=====3) Air Defenses + Land-targeting Defenses=====
The bonding is quite obvious and very important in most levels, especially for TH7 or above!When a cannon is raided by Balloons, you don't want to see the poor cannon being destroyed with no way to defend itself. That's why you must make sure that your Air Defenses and Archer Towers can touch every single Cannon and Mortar.
=====Splash defenses+bombs; Air defenses+air bombs/seeking air mines=====
Bombs are better placed near splash defenses. While the bombs take away a lot of low-hp troops's health, the splash defense can take them all down in one or two more additional shots. Same logic works for air defenses+air bombs.
=====X-bow+Splash defenses=====
While the X-bow deals rather low DPS, splash defenses can help out on that. It works well with mortars as they have similarly long range while mortars has blind spots, which nearby X-bows can cover them easily.
====Cornering====
Many would put builder's huts on the corners of the map to lower the chance of getting 100%'d. The effectiveness is rather low as smart players can send a single troop to destroy it, but this method is still recommended.
Also bare in mind that you should NEVER put more than half of your buildings on the outskirts because that way you lose a battle by being 50% without a chance of killing one enemy troop!
In clan war bases, while the loot in those bases does not belongs to you, I recommend cornering resource storages rather than builder's huts because storages has very high hp and serves no defensive use. It takes ages for a single troop to pick off one of these buildings.
====Don't pack storages together!====
The hard earned loot are all stored in the gold and (dark) elixir storages. You may want maximum defense power equally given to every single storage, but bare in mind DON'T put all of your storages in the same wall compartment! The reason is obvious: imagine if attacking goblins break one of the surrounding walls, EVERY gold and elixir storage are accessible. That's why you should put them in four compartments, therefore goblins will have to break 4 walls instead of 1 only.
====Cornerstone strategy====
One rarely seen wall placing strategy is the cornerstone strategy. It is generally about placing an extra wall inside the corners in walls, creating a triangular semi-double wall segment. This is rather well for it makes melee troops more difficult to attack that wall and ignore it completely, providing protection to the inner cell and even funneling troops too! However, this is, similar to double walls, meaningless to ranged troops and wall breakers. Also it consumes one more piece of wall, so only do this if you have extra walls.