Lava Hound

File:Lava Hound info.png

***"These fiery beasts can't resist chasing after Air Defenses, providing excellent protection for other troops. Once destroyed, they erupt into many smaller, weaker menaces."***

* **Summary**
	+ The Lava Hound is like a flying fiery Golem, except its favorite target is specifically Air Defenses.
	+ The Lava Hound is a pyrotechnic (volcanic) hound-like creature with wings.
	+ Like the Golem, the Lava Hound deals additional splash damage when it dies, before splitting into Lava Pups.
	+ When the Lava Hound attacks buildings, it bounces up and down slightly while shooting little fireballs at it like a Minion.
	+ {{#vardefine:TroopName|Lava Hounds}}{{#vardefine:DefenseType|Air Defenses}}{{#var:TroopName}} prioritize {{#var:DefenseType}} above all other targets, and will bypass all other enemy buildings and troops while any {{#var:DefenseType}} remain on the battlefield. This is true even if they are under attack by enemy Clan Castle troops, heroes or Skeleton Trap skeletons. Once all {{#var:DefenseType}} are destroyed, they will continue to attack any other remaining defenses. Note that like all troops that prioritize defenses, {{#var:TroopName}} do not consider the Clan Castle to be a defense regardless of whether or not it contains enemy troops, but do consider the defending Grand Warden to be a defensive building.
	Once all remaining defenses are destroyed, {{#var:TroopName}} become like any other troop with no preferred target; they will attack the nearest building to them regardless of type, and will turn and attack enemy units if they become aware of any nearby.

* **Offensive Strategy**
	+ Lava Hounds have a large amount of hitpoints. Much like Golems, they're useful as an attack tank, but for air units. They protect Dragons, Minions, Healers and Balloons, much like Golems protect a group of Wizards or Witches.
	+ They can distract Air Defenses, which prevents the Air Defenses from destroying a group of Dragons, Balloons or Minions.
	+ Be sure to keep it away from a single targeting Inferno Tower which can kill it with ease.
	+ It's a good idea to send Lava Hounds in pairs so it can soak up twice the amount of damage and to longer distract defenses from other air troops. However, don't use too many, as they are extremely weak offensive units and will be destroyed before they do too much damage to your enemy, even given their prodigious hitpoints.
	+ Lava Hounds may make high-level Giant-Healer strategies more viable, as one of the major reasons it previously failed at high levels was Air Defense damage. A Lava Hound may be able to keep the Healer alive substantially longer, giving the Giants enough time to clear a path for the damage dealers.
		- However, at TH level 10, Giant-Healer is usually useless due to the presence of Inferno Towers which cancels any form of healing(via Healers or Healing Spells.
* **Defensive Strategy**
	+ Spreading your Air Defenses out is a good idea. This forces attackers to keep their air troops near the Lava Hounds for protection, making Air Bombs and Wizard Towers more effective. Also have Seeking Air Mines and Air Bombs close by your Air Defenses so it will be more likely to be triggered by Lava. Hounds.
	+ Their weaknesses include Seeking Air Mines, which do significant damage against air troops.
	+ Be sure to use at least one single-targeting Inferno Tower, which will destroy a Lava Hound with ease.
	+ Lava Hounds are not very good Clan Castle troops considering they require a level 5 Clan Castle. They also do very little damage. However, they can be used to keep the attackers at bay as they can soak up a lot of damage.

* **Upgrade Differences**
	+ At level 1 and 2, the Lava Hound looks like an overweight *dog* like creature, with a round head and lumpy body, made of rock with cracks filled with Lava. A row of scales made of rocks are on its back.
	+ At level 3, the spikes on its back turn into lava. Its eyes also become larger and more red. The lava under the skin of the forearms also disappear, and its wings grow in size. It's glow changes a bit.

* **Trivia**
	+ The Lava Hound was added in the 16 September 2014 update.
	+ The Sneak Peek picture of the Lava Hound features its head, bearing the words "I smell fireworks..."
	+ If you have a Lava Hound in your Clan Castle and it splits into Lava Pups during a defense, it will turn back into a Lava Hound if at least one Lava Pup survives the attack.
	+ The Lava Hound bears a strong resemblance to the Lava Dragon from DragonVale, another popular iOS game.
	+ The Lava Hound is often compared to the Golem due to its similar statistics and concept (e.g. they have a lot of health, and once defeated, mini-troops will continue to fight.)
	+ When clicking on an Army Camp, the Lava Hound turns away from the screen.
	+ Some refer the Lava Hound as the offspring of a Golem, Minion, or possibly an Inferno Tower because of the lava similarities.
	+ The level 3 Lava Hound has the highest hitpoints among all troops; however, it has lower DPS per housing space (0.47) than any other troop, even lower than the level 1 Golem at 1.27 DPS per housing space.
	+ The Lava Hound takes up the most space of any troop in the Army Camp, along with the Golem (30 housing spaces).
	+ The Lava Hound is currently the final troop unlocked in the Dark Barracks.
	+ It Is rumored that they do not have any shadow but they do.

**Note: Level 4 lava hounds are exclusively available in donation level up perks.**

For additional statistics and information, see the Unit Calculators page.