Strategy Guides/Skeleton Fighting

This article a strategy for CKW that I like to call Skeleton Fighting, which is where you attack with a Skeleton Castle (empty castle). This is not a commonly used term in the game.

## What is a Skeleton Castle?

1. This is what I call fighting with an empty castle.
2. Hide troops in flags/camps/rallies to keep castle empty.
3. Use free march and fight with 1 or 2 marches.
4. Recommended for weaker/budget players

## Video Guide

YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Uri114XSbo

1. Trimmed down recording of CKW on 1-14-23 of K49 vs. K48
2. Showcased and explained my general process for how to fight as a Skeleton Castle
3. Intro/Outro to cover the content in this guide
4. Video is heavily edited to cut down on time, so things will seem faster than they normally do in game
5. My attack marches are the default 1 minute
6. I used around 15 50% speedups to hit 3 hives

## Finding targets

1. Check fortresses on map near Empire City. When you find a hive, save it to your Favorites list.
2. Check troop power for players in hives. Try to identify the hive with the highest value targets in them to prioritize which hives to hit first.
3. If time permits, perform a similar check for fortresses outside of the center island.

## Initial setup

1. When you first port in, you will have a 3-minute shield which should allow you to empty your castle and get setup without getting attacked.
2. Port somewhere close to the first hive you want to attack. Be sure to not be directly in the hive.
3. Use a legion size boost (either 20% or 50%).
4. Camp your troops
	1. Primary march - camp nearby so you can attack hive soon
	2. Secondary march - Camp on the left or right of the center island. This camp will need to keep marching to stay invincible.
	3. Remaining troops - Camp somewhere in the outskirts. Be sure to use heroes to include as many troops as possible. These camp will need to keep marching to stay invincible.

## Attacking Hives

1. Locate first target.
	1. Check the troop power of castles in the nearby hive.
	2. For CKW that only T4 castles count, so only check castles level 23 and above.
	3. If you do not have T5 killer stats, avoid C40s. Scout C30s to make sure they only have T4.
2. Send your primary march at the highest troop power castle you can find quickly.
3. Do not use speedups for each attack, or you will quickly run out of speedups. You also won't be able to use free march to redirect your march.
4. Do not scout for garrisons, but keep an eye out for a player garrisoning your targets.
5. While your attack is going, you can check the troop power of players in the hive to find your next target.
6. Prepare to leave the hive once all castles are on fire.

## Moving to next hive

1. While last attack is being sent, check the next hive you were planning on attacking and confirm if it's still a good location to attack.
2. After last attack, free march your march over to the outside of the other hive using speedups.
3. Once your march is near the next hive, repeat the attacking hives process.
4. Optionally, you can port your castle near the other hive in case you need to add more troops to your march, scout castles etc.

## Getting attacked and/or blocked

1. If someone attacks your castle, ignore it.
2. If someone starts garrisoning against your march, send your primary march into the wilderness.
3. Start attacking another hive using your second march.

## Hospital Management

1. When CKW is happening, you can revive troops with 50% less holy water.
2. Need to stop healing troops as soon as CKW is announced to stack up holy water.
3. Set an alarm for before the 3-hour CKW event ends to use all holy water

## Replenishing Troops

1. Anytime you need to add troops to your march, they must return to your castle. Time this carefully.
2. Method 1: use holy water to revive troops from temple.
3. Method 2: sheltered troops in temple
4. Method 3: warp to wilderness camps

## Skeleton Castle as a T4 Player

* Easier as a T5 player, but technically possible as a T4 player
* Be more selective about targets
* Be prepared to replenish more frequently
* Use a cavalry setup to reduce losses against arch/inf players