This is part 3 in a series on How to Queen Walk. This guide looks at common defending Clan Castle troops and how to defeat them. If you haven’t read parts 1 and 2, check out the links below:

When using a Queen Walk to take out defending Clan Castle troops, it is best to always take a Poison Spell. If you have the capabilities in your clan, you should take a max level Poison Spell in your Clan Castle spell slot. For TH11 and above with an upgraded Clan Castle allowing a 2 slot spell, use your own Poison Spell and use the Clan Castle spell slot for an extra Elixir spell.

The Poison Spell not only does damage to the defending troops, but it also slows down troop movement speed and attack speed. This gives your Archer Queen more time before they are in attack range as well as decreasing the incoming damage.

One danger is if the Healers lure the Clan Castle troops rather than the Queen. If this happens, the defending Clan Castle troops will target the Healers and will likely destroy them before the Queen is able to take them out. If this happens, be ready with another troop to place on the path to the Healers to distract them and as long as the Queen is in range, she should agress them.

Valkyries

Valkyries are a popular defence troop due to their fast movement and high damage. For an Archer Queen under level 20, multiple Valkyries can take her out within seconds due to their large alpha damage. To defeat multiple Valkyries, deploy a Poison Spell between your Queen and the Valkyries so that the edge of the Poison Spell is just touching your Queen.

If you have a lower level Archer Queen, follow the same steps with the Poison Spell but also be ready to deploy a Rage Spell on your Queen and Healers once the Valkyries enter the Poison Spell to maximise the change of your Queen staying up.

Although some clans do use multiple Valkyries in their defending Clan Castles, it is more common to see them mixed with a Baby Dragon or Witch.

Witches

The role of Witches in the defending Clan Castle is to provide a distraction with the skeletons they spawn. With 2 Witches in the Clan Castle, it is possible to distract your Archer Queen for a substantial amount of time.

A poison spell will quickly take out the Skeletons spawned by the Witches, however it’s important to ensure that the Witches are also in the Poison Spell so that any freshly spawned Skeletons don’t last long and your Queen will focus on the Witches. If the Witches have been lured with other troops and need to travel across the village to your Archer Queen, don’t drop the Poison Spell until the Witches are within a few tiles of your Queen to ensure the Witches are taken out before the Poison Spell expires.

If the Witches are still active when the Poison Spell expires, they will continue to occupy the Queen with spawned Skeletons. If this happens, use a Baby Dragon or Wizard if you have one available to deal splash damage to the Skeletons or use the Queen’s Royal Cloak Ability.

Baby Dragon

A single Baby Dragon with a mixture of other troops is a common defensive Clan Castle troop due to them being effective at taking out groups of troops with their splash damage. As with other troops, using a Poison Spell will help slow them down and reduce their damage output.

Occasionally you will come across a Clan Castle with multiple Baby Dragons in. Due to the Baby Dragon receiving a 2x raged damage bonus if it is not near other friendly air troops, 3 Baby Dragons will do the same damage as 1.5x raged Baby Dragons, so they are not a major threat.

Electro Dragon

A defending Electro Dragon can be one of the largest threats to a Queen Walk. It is very effective at taking out an Archer Queen or the Healers if it is not dealt with due to high alpha damage and chained damage to 4 nearby troops. It also has a lot of HP making it difficult to take out quickly before it attacks.

If your Archer Queen is under level 24, it will likely be taken out in a single hit from the Electro Dragon so it must be watched closely. Once the Electro Dragon has reached the Queen and is stationary, it will take 3.5 seconds for it’s attack to charge up. This can be seen by watching the spikes on its back illuminate before it attacks.

A Poison Spell can be dropped on the Electro Dragon to slow down it’s travel and slow down it’s attack speed. The Poison Spell should be dropped between the Queen and Electro Dragon so it’s just touching the Queen. This ensures that when the Electro Dragon reaches the Queen, it is still within the Poison Spell.

If you queen is under level 50, you will either need to use a Freeze spell on the Electro Dragon or use the Queen’s Royal Cloak ability to take it down before it attacks the Queen, especially if the Queen is taking damage from other defences.

If you Queen is above level 50, she will likely be able to take 1 hit from the Electro Dragon and take it down. If you Queen is taking a lot of damage from other defences at the same time, use a Rage Spell.

Balloons

Balloons are slow moving troops, however they have a large alpha damage, especially if there are multiple Balloons. These can be taken care of by deploying a Poison Spell between the Archer Queen and the Balloons by the Queen. Any Balloons that make it close to the Queen will continue to take damage from the Poison Spell and should be destroyed.

If you have a lower level queen (under level 20), keep a close eye on the last few Balloons to ensure they are destroyed before they reach the Queen. If not, be ready to use the Queen’s Royal Cloak ability otherwise 1 or 2 hits from the Balloons will knock her out.

Lava Hound

The Lava Hound itself does minimal damage although it is a distraction for the Archer Queen as it will take her some time to destroy the Lava Hound due it having high HP. Due to the low damage output, it is best to save your Poison Spell until after the Lava Hound has popped and deployed the Lava Pups. These collectively do more damage than the Lava Hound, however they are have don’t have much HP and a Poison Spell can take care of them.

If there is a Balloon with the Lava Hound, it will move slower than the Lava Hound so the Archer Queen will agress the Lava Hound first. Due to the Balloon having a high alpha damage that will knock out a lower level queen that has taken damage, it will need to be taken out first. Deploy the Poison Spell in between the Archer Queen and the Balloon by the Queen and the Poison Spell will take out the Balloon. Once the Lava Hound is destroyed, the Queen should be able to handle the Lava Pups without a Poison Spell (albeit slower), however you can use a Baby Dragon or Wizard to help take out the Lava Pups if required.

Wizards

Wizards are usually part of a group of other troops in the defending Clan Castle and are not a threat to the Archer Queen in small groups. Occasionally an defending Clan Castle will have mass Wizards. If the Wizards are able to get close enough to the Queen to attack, they can do large enough alpha damage with their first attack to knock the queen out. Deploying a Poison Spell will slow them sufficiently for the Queen to take them out before they are able to attack.

P.E.K.K.A

A P.E.K.K.A is a slow moving high HP troop that isn’t commonly seen in a defending Clan Castle, however you may come across one from time to time. The P.E.K.K.A have a very high alpha damage and will be a major threat to an Archer Queen under level 25 and higher levels if the Queen has taken some damage. A Poison Spell should be deployed in front of the Queen in the path of the P.E.K.K.A . For a higher level Queen (40+), a Rage Spell should be sufficient to take out the P.E.K.K.A before it reaches her, however a lower level Queen should be ready to activate the Royal Cloak ability when the P.E.K.K.A is near to avoid being knocked out.

Dragon

A common defence troop usually mixed with Balloons or can be seen as a pair at TH12. The Archer Queen should be able to comfortably tank the damage from a Dragon. If coupled with Balloons, the Balloons are more of a threat due to their high alpha damage however putting a Poison Spell in their path will weaken them sufficiently.

Ice Golem

The threat from an Ice Golem is not the troop itself, but the Queen being frozen for a number of seconds upon its destruction. The Healers will be out of range from the freeze radius and will continue to heal the Queen, however the Queen will still take damage from the other defending Clan Castle troops and village defences without being able to take them out. If the Queen is taking too much damage for the Healers to handle, using a Rage Spell should handle the damage until the Queen is unfrozen and active again.

Summary

Most defending Clan Castle troops can be taken out using a Queen Walk. If you have a lower level Queen, certain troops can be a threat due to them being able to knock her out in a single hit. In those scenarios, be prepared with a Poison Spell, a Rage spell or the Royal Cloak ability to minimise the chance of the Queen being knocked out.