Mortar

***"The Mortar can mow down hordes of enemies by the splash damage from its shell. Don't let enemies get too close to it!"***

* **Summary**
	+ Mortars are the player's heavy defenses. Whenever an enemy comes into range, it blasts out an explosive shell with a low frequency "ping".
	+ Mortars shoot long-range explosive shells every 5 seconds which deal devastating splash damage to every unit within a small radius of the impact point. Their splash damage, combined with their long range, make them deadly weapons against large groups of weaker enemies such as Warriors, Rangers, or Thiefs.
	+ A Mortar's major disadvantages are its inability to attack troops within 4 tiles, its low rate of fire and low DPS which makes them less effective against high-health troops.
	+ Due to the fact that the Mortar's shell takes a while to reach its target (over a second at maximum range), fast troops like Goblins can easily dodge its attack if they are moving when the Mortar fires.
	+ Mortars cannot target air troops.

* **Defensive Strategy**
	+ Mortars should generally be placed towards the center of your base, preferably behind at least one set of Walls. Its long range allows the Mortar to attack from far behind other structures.
	+ Since the Mortar deals heavy splash damage, it can quite rapidly eliminate attacking troops.
	+ It is smart to form a triangle or square with your Mortars near the center of your base, as this allows multiple Mortars to attack the same area.
	+ At each level, the Mortar can kill a same-level Ranger in a single shot. i.e. A level 1 mortar can one-shot level 1 Rangers, level 2 can one-shot level 2 Rangers, etc.
	+ Putting a Mortar and Wizard Tower together makes a smart pair, because the Mortar covers a large area while the Wizard Tower helps protect the Mortar from mass air troops and covers the Mortar's blind spot.
		- However, it is not a very good idea to place the two towers right next to each other (or separated by a single wall), because two or three appropriately leveled Bomb Spells can take them out easily. Try to put another building in between them if possible.
	+ It is a good idea to place Mortars near each other, without putting them in the same wall pocket (if possible). When more than one Mortars' range overlaps, it creates a kill-zone where almost no ground troops can survive.

* **Offensive Strategy**
	+ The Mortar's blind spot, low rate of fire, and inability to target air troops makes them vulnerable to a wide variety of different attacks. Fast melee troops such as Warriors or Thief (after all resource structures are destroyed) can rush to the Mortar and quickly enter its blind spot. Unfortunately, Rangers will always stop and begin firing at a Mortar before they enter its blind spot, so pairing them with a meatshield is ideal.
	+ The Mortar's relatively low hitpoints makes it very vulnerable to Huges and Bomb Spells. It takes only a pair of appropriately-leveled Bomb Spells to take out any Mortar.
	+ Their inability to target air troops makes Mortars easy pickings for Gasbags, Dragons and Fire Bats if they are not covered by AirCrafts.
	+ When deploying troops, try to avoid deploying low hitpoint ground troops in clumps. The Mortar does great splash damage unless a Healing Spell is in hand.

* **Upgrade Differences**
	+ Mortars undergo significant visual changes at levels 5, 7 and 8
		- When initially constructed, the Mortar consists of a solid black launcher tube with two half-disc gimbals on each side. It fires a gray stone shell.
		- The level 2 and 3 Mortars grow larger and sport an increasingly wider gold trim on the outer rim of the tube.
		- At level 4, the Mortar's gimbals change to a bright golden color, and it sports a wider, pitted ring of gold trim. Its shell changes to a black stone.
		- At level 5, the Mortars gold rim reaches its greatest width.
		- At level 6, the Mortar's tube turns entirely golden. Its shell becomes a golden fiery ball.
		- At level 7, the Mortar's tube reverts to black with golden trim, but acquires a skull on each gimbal (which turn black as well) and bones and another skull on the ground in front of it.
		- At level 8, the Mortar's color becomes metallic, and the barrel's internals glows with what appears to be lava. The golden fiery ball becomes noticeably larger. The gimbal of the mortar also becomes bigger in a somewhat trapezoid shape. Spikes appear on the ring around the top of the mortar, replacing the skulls of the former level.

* **Trivia**
	+ The Mortar's low Damage per Second is due to its very slow firing speed: 1 shell per 5 seconds. Thus, multiplying its DPS by 5 will give you its damage per shot, which is the important stat for Mortars.
	+ Every time a Mortar shell hits the ground, the screen shakes slightly.
	+ The Mortar has the least hitpoints of all maximum-level Defensive Buildings.
	+ The Mortar shell's explosion is so powerful that it knocks back smaller Troops. If the troop gets knocked far enough away from its current target, it can even change targets to another, closer building.