Princess (Clash Royale)

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File:PrincessCard.png

The Princess is a Legendary card from Clash Royale that is unlocked from the Electro Valley (Arena 11) or from a Legendary Chest. She is an area-damaging, long-ranged troop with low hitpoints and moderate splash damage. Her long range allows her to target and attack Crown Towers from the opposite side of the river, outside the attacking range of said Towers. A Princess card costs 3 Elixir to deploy.

## Strategy

* Due to her splash damage and long range, Princess is a strong support or siege unit. However, she does moderate damage which coupled with her very slow attack rate makes her a weak solo counter to anything but swarms. Zap is an excellent synergy with Princess as together they can instantly take out Minion Hordes and Goblins.
* A good method of getting some early chip damage on the opponent's Tower is to deploy her at the bridge at the start of the match if she appears in the player's starting hand, since her first attack is faster than the others after it. This is extremely hard to react to and will often catch their opponent off guard.
	+ The defender should be aware of when the opponent has a Princess in their hand and cycle their cards in the center of the Arena to increase their odds of catching a Princess' sight as it is deployed.
	+ Skeletons are the cheapest counter to a distracted Princess at the bridge. They can be removed with a spell on reaction before she even gets hit once, allowing the Princess to provide more value, but almost any response to the Skeletons will be a negative Elixir trade since they cost just 1 Elixir, in addition to the Princess' 3 Elixir cost. This can give the player a decent Elixir advantage at the cost of some Tower damage, and also potentially bait a spell out of the opponent.
* Despite her low DPS, she does deal moderate damage and has an extremely long range. This means that she will easily affect the outcome of duels, and since she has such a long range, she will safely engage from behind cover. It is valuable to protect her with cheap troops such as Knight or Goblins, as even if all the other supporting troops are defeated, she will begin dealing chip damage to the opposing Crown Towers. However, many spells can defeat her regardless of how well she is protected.
	+ She can be placed on the opposite side of your enemy's push to force out a response from the opponent.
* Miner is a decent counter to a defending Princess, as it will two-shot her and can be deployed anywhere around her. The defender can use swarms to reduce the likelihood that the Miner locks onto her. However, if the opponent also has Poison, they may decide to fake the player out and deploy the Miner on the Crown Tower, while the Poison is placed on the Princess. If the player uses a swarm to protect her, this will give the opponent spell value and chip damage.
	+ If the Miner response is placed in a poorly position, you can use Tornado to send the Miner toward the King Tower, activating him early while also saving your Princess.
* Despite being a negative Elixir trade, a Mini P.E.K.K.A can counter the Princess and be able to set up for a counter push. Wait for the Princess to reach the bridge, then place the Mini P.E.K.K.A in front to one-shot her, while he survives the first attack. The Mini P.E.K.K.A will still have most of his health remaining, forcing the opponent to spend more Elixir to defeat him.
* Even though the Princess deals moderate damage per shot, it is not wise to leave her shooting a Tower for too long, as she can rack up major amounts of damage. If the player allows her to stay on the Arena for long enough, she will have not only dealt enormous chip damage, but the opponent may have another Princess available right after the last one is destroyed.
* Area damage spells are the most effective counters to the Princess as it is impossible to defend her from them. The Log, Arrows, Fireball, and Poison are the most reliable counters to a defending Princess, in addition to the fact that they can clip the Crown Towers for extra damage. The defender should be aware of when their opponent's spells are in hand to maximize the time their Princess stays on the map.
	+ The Log can one-shot a Princess up to 1 Level higher than it. Arrows can fully defeat a Princess up to 3 Levels higher. However, The Log is usually the better counter since it costs 1 less Elixir than the Princess at the cost of being unable to handle aerial swarms. The Log is also useful in the sense that it has an area denial effect; waiting until the Princess is at the bridge to use it can allow the player to hit other troops that may be played to protect the Princess. Arrows are most recommended over The Log when the Princess is deep within enemy territory, such as behind the Princess Tower.
	+ The player can intentionally use other spell vulnerable troops with the Princess to help spread their opponent's counters to her thin. For example, an opponent may use The Log to counter her, on principle that it is a good Elixir trade, only to be left vulnerable to an offensive swarm card such as the Goblin Barrel.
	+ The Barbarian Barrel can also counter the Princess. Place the Barbarian Barrel in such a way that the Barbarian will spawn right next to her, so that it lands the finishing blow as fast as possible. However, this is not a reliable counter as the opponent can be ready to react to this and play another card to distract the Barbarian, leaving the Princess alive but crippled. Note that a Barbarian Barrel that is 1 Level can defeat the Princess without the Barbarian's help.
	+ If the player doesn't have spells to counter her, they can use other cheap cards instead. Dart Goblin is an excellent counter to Princess since the Dart Goblin can survive 1 attack from the Princess and after defeating her, will chip damage the opponent's Tower. The player can also use Goblins, Bomber, Minions and Archers, but they should be wary of predictive defending units or spells.
	+ More fragile units like Bats and Spear Goblins cannot defeat her alone due to her being able to one-shot those units. When using these units, wait for her to target a different unit instead like a Princess Tower or a Giant, then drop those units separated from the tank to defeat her.
* The Princess can deny all other damage from a Skeleton Barrel besides its Death Damage. Deploy the Princess behind the King's Tower staggered towards the lane of the Skeleton Barrel, and time it so that she spawns when the Skeleton Barrel's shadow is one and a half tiles from the Princess Tower. If done correctly, she will shoot her volley of arrows at the Skeleton Barrel right as it pops, and the area damage will immediately defeat all the Skeletons that spawn.
* You can trick your enemy by placing your Princess near the bridge when there is a push, wasting a spell.
* In Princess versus Princess duels, it is a good idea to use Zap on the enemy Princess so that your Princess can defeat her while not taking any damage in return. Alternatively, you can use Tornado to pull the enemy Princess next to their Princess Tower, defeating her in the process, while yours survives the first attack.
* Starting out a match, you have two options. The first is to place the Princess behind the King Tower. With her long range, she will have a defensive presence in both lanes, deterring opponents from attacking either Princess Tower. The second option is to play her at the bridge instead. This will force a response from the opponent, which could give an idea of what deck they might be using while also dealing chip damage to the opposing Princess Tower.
* If one of the opposing Princess Towers has been destroyed, you can place her on the center of the opposing side on the first tile from the river. She will target the next Princess Tower quicker than if she was placed at the bridge. However, she is vulnerable to be defeated by enemy defensive cards, so only place her there if you are desperate for damage.
* Stacking multiple Princesses on the map is a great way to control the Arena. With their great range and slow movement speed, a Princess can easily protect another Princess from swarms and it can also discourage the opponent from attacking. However, make sure that the Princesses are far away from each other to prevent the opponent from gaining major spell value.
* If an Inferno Tower survives a push with decent health to spare, you can place a Princess at the bridge for an immediate attack. The opponent will most likely respond with a troop, which will then proceed to attack the Inferno Tower, only to be melted by it. This allows the Inferno Tower to make better use of its 30 second lifetime, and can otherwise negate the Elixir deficit the player would have from attacking.
* It is possible to push the Princess at the bridge into the range of the Princess Towers, with a perfect placement and timing Giant Snowball. To do it, wait for the Princess to walk as far as she can into the river and use the Giant Snowball on the Princess to knock it forward, making it in range of the Princess Towers.

## History

2016

* The Princess card was added to the game on 29/2/2016, in the March 2016 Update.
* On 23/3/2016, a Balance Update, decreased the Princess' hitpoints by 10%.
* On 3/5/2016, the May 2016 Update, decreased the Template:Rarity card Level cap to 5 (from 6) and fixed the "range bug" and decreased the Princess' range to 9 tiles (from 9.5 tiles), but her effective range is unchanged. The same update also changed her card description. Prior to this update, it read "*Shoots a volley of flaming arrows halfway across the Arena. The Princess is afraid of germs, so keep the rabble away from her!*"
* On 24/8/2016, a Balance Update, decreased the Princess' area radius to 2 tiles (from 2.5 tiles).
* On 29/8/2016, a Minor Update, increased the Princess' projectile speed to 450 (from 400).

2018

* On 5/9/2018, the September 2018 Update, changed it so that Template:Rarity cards start at Level 9 and end at Level 13 (from 1 to 5).

2019

* On 6/5/2019, a Balance Update, increased the Princess' projectile speed to 600 (from 450).

2020

* On 7/4/2020, a Balance Update, added a card render to the Princess' card info screen.

2021

* On 7/6/2021, the Summer 2021 Update, moved the Arena to unlock the Princess from Royal Arena to Spell Valley.
* On 27/10/2021, the Champions Update, increased the Level cap of all cards to 14 (from 13).

2022

* On 27/6/2022, the Summer 2022 Update, added the Efficient Attacker Card Mastery task for the Princess.
* On 26/10/2022, the 2022 Quarter 3 Update, moved the Arena to unlock the Princess from Royal Arena to Electro Valley.

2023

* On 19/6/2023, the Card Evolution Update, increased the Level cap of all cards to 15 (from 14).

## Trivia

* The Princess was one of the first Template:Rarity cards to be added to the game, alongside the Ice Wizard.
* The Princess has the highest range of all troops in the game, with a range of 9 tiles.
	+ The Princess is the only troop that has a higher range than Crown Towers.
	+ It is theoretically possible to win a battle with just a Princess, due to her range being able to outrange Crown Towers, and is 1 of 2 troops that can do a 3-Crown victory by itself at even Levels, along with the Evolved Barbarians.
* According to one of the Loading Screen Hints, the Princess Towers are guarded by the King's Princesses.
	+ However, they have decreased range versus a normal Princess, have a faster hit speed, deal less damage, and don't have splash damage as they don't appear to have multiple arrows when shot. It is possible that the Princesses on the Princess Towers deal less damage than normal Princesses because their arrows aren't on fire.
	+ Before the November 2016 Update, they had a different appearance than the Princess.
	+ The Princess troop has a gold tiara instead of a silver one like the Princesses on the Princess Towers.
* The Grand Champion League badge resembles a Princess' crown.
* The Princess has 3 arrows nocked in the card picture, while she only nocks 1 arrow in-game. However, she shoots 5 arrows in-game.
* When attacking or spawning, she can say "*Let's go!*", "*Gotcha!*", "*Bullseye!*", and/or "*Yay.*"
	+ The Princess is 1 of 17 cards that speak distinct words when on the field, the others being Mini P.E.K.K.A., Wizard, Hog Rider, P.E.K.K.A., Dark Prince, Bowler, Electro Wizard, Ice Wizard, Magic Archer, Lumberjack, Fisherman, The Log, Party Hut, Golden Knight, Skeleton King, and the Archer Queen.
* The Princess is the subject of a few Emotes.
* A cloned Princess does not fall from the sky when deployed.
* Before the Princess' card release, the Princess' damage was decreased by 6%.