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Guard Towers vs Cannon Towers
Guard Towers
Guard Towers have a place in the game but much less than Cannons. Their main strength is their ability to fire at Flying Machines, and Dragons especially, and they do not miss and are cheap compared to Cannon Towers.
Strengths of Guard Towers
Guard Towers Are Cheap
It only costs 550 Gold and 150 Lumber to upgrade them.
Guard Towers Never Miss
Guard Towers never miss. They sometimes fire at stuff you don't want them too but do not miss.
Guard Towers Hit Flying Units
Guard Towers can hit Gryphons and Flying machines.
Guard Towers Scare Flying Machines Away
Most people do and should run away when their Flying Machines are hit by Guard Towers. This sometimes keeps enemy Flying Machines away from the town in the future. Many People don't want to return to a town protected by Guard Towers.
Towers Hit Gryphons and Dragons
Although an experienced Gryphon controller will not be damaged much by Towers, for those people who don't know what to do, Towers kill Gryphons. Weakness of Guard Towers
Guard Towers Do Not Do a Lot of Damage Unsupported
Guard Towers are not able to prevent large groups of enemies from attacking. Against large forces, they often are simply an annoyance to the enemy. If you can repair them or prevent the enemy from reaching them, eventually they will destroy their targets but Cannon Towers are best used against large land forces. Cannon Towers
Cannon Towers are used to protect Peasants mining and to fend of early Footmen attacks. Their main strength is in their massive damage.
Strength of Cannon Towers
Cannon Towers Do Serious Damage
Cannon Towers can destroy large attacking armies using splash damage, and intense direct damage given enough time. That's something you don't see with Guard Towers. Cannon Towers can take large groups of Footmen. This is the main strength of the Cannon tower over the Guard tower. Cannon Tower Weaknesses
Cannon Towers Are Expensive
Guard Towers cost 550 Gold, 150 Lumber to upgrade. Cannon Towers are 1000 Gold, 300 Lumber. You can almost upgrade two Guard Towers for the price of upgrading one Cannon Tower.
Cannons Towers can't easily Hit Goblin Sappers or Demolition Squads
Cannon Towers overshoot Goblin Sappers because they have an area attack. Once they have fired, Goblin Sappers can quickly move out of the way. Guard Towers, however, if not distracted, will hit Goblin Sappers.
Cannons Towers Often Cannot Hit Close Targets
Cannon Towers need the enemy to be about a Peasant distance (1X1) away before they can hit. While they can do some splash damage, it is often not enough to kill units attacking the Tower.
Cannons Towers Can Be Killed By Gryphons
Because Cannon Towers cannot fire at air targets the enemy can use a few Gryphons to clean out large numbers of Cannon Towers.
Offensive Towers
Towers work great for defense, by why not use them offensively? Early on players discovered that Towers can actually be used as siege weapons, and with much more effectiveness than Catapults. While Catapults have long range and deal more damage, Towers can be repaired and kept alive for much longer. When training Catapults, Barracks are unable to train Footmen, but when using Towers Barracks can continue to build Footmen while building and using Towers at the same time.
To use this strategy you need a Lumber Mill for Guard Towers. Once you have that, you only need to find the enemy. Be sure to avoid the enemy spotting your scouting maneuver. Usually Peons will scout rather than Footmen because they are available sooner.
Use Guard Towers for Offensive Towering
Guard Towers are less expensive, do not miss, and are able to fire on targets attacking the Tower while Peons repair it.
While Cannon Towers do more damage, only use Cannon Towers if they are supported by Footmen or Guard Towers.
Tower the Gold Mine
The best place to Tower is by the enemy's Gold Mine. If you are able to put a Tower there and get it operational before the enemy notices you can kill all of the Peons mining Gold before they can do anything about it. Experienced players watch out for this strategy so it will not work on everyone.
Tower Your Way In
A strategy that works on a many players is the "Tower your way in" strategy. Place a Tower a little distance outside of the enemy town. Upgrade it to a Guard Tower, then build another Tower closer to the enemy. The first Tower will cover and fire on anyone trying to attack the new Tower while it is building and upgrading short of the enemy using Catapults. Once that Tower is complete keep building Towers closer and closer into the enemy town until you can start hitting buildings and eventually get a Tower firing on the enemy Peons mining Gold. When the enemy attacks the Towers repair them. If the enemy tries to attack the Peons repairing them, run with the Peons in circles around the Tower. The Tower will fire on the units pursuing the Peon. If the enemy goes back to attacking the Tower again, move the Peon back into position and repair the Tower while it is being attack. Repeat the cycle if the enemy attempts to attack the Peon again. The enemy may be frustrated by this strategy but it does work and work well.
Footmen Support
While building Towers send Footmen to protect the Towers. If you get in trouble, take the Footmen and run circles around the Towers letting the Towers fire on the pursuing enemy units.
Teammate Support
This strategy works even better with support from a teammate. The teammate can send a group of Footmen for support or build Towers of their own to help you pull this strategy off.
Early Game Strategy
This strategy is really more of an opening game strategy than something you will use later on in the game. While it might work at poorly defended enemy expansion towns you will find most players are able to easily stop this in the later part of the game. The reason this strategy is so effective early on is due to the enemy's lack of options and counters to stop it. Although they can use Catapults, often the enemy does not build Catapults which you can use to your advantage. After the enemy has Bloodlust, Goblin Sappers, Blizzard, it's time to give up this strategy except on expansion towns.
Offensive Tower defense
The enemy can do quite a few things to defeat offensive Towers.
Stop Offensive Towering Before It Starts
The enemy should be making regular patrols around their village to ensure that no such strategies are being attempted. Often when attempting Offensive Towering against very skilled players they will find the Tower before it is able to upgrade to a Guard Tower stopping the strategy before it starts.
Overwhelm Them With Footmen
If the enemy is able to get enough Footmen, they can easily destroy the Towers.
Catapults
If they are able to build a Catapult they can hit the Guard Towers from range. It is rare however that the enemy will build or have a Catapult around to stop this strategy.
Goblin Sappers and Death & Decay
Offensive Towering is really only effective early in the game. Once the enemy has Sappers and Blizzard, they can easily put a stop to this strategy.
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