Trap Account requirements are consistently changing with addition of more powerful Research, larger March Sizes, and New Wild Troops (coming soon). It's important that you stay on top of how these new features change the requirements of a successful Trap Account. One good hit and your Trap could decommissioned for the rest of KvK. Check back here when new features are launched to make sure your Trap meets the requirements.
This article was last update for accuracy on 11-24-15.The fun thing about Trap Play is your ability to customize and try your own thing. Before the March Size Increases, traps with 550K troops and 600K Hospital beds were very effective. Now, traps like that will need to be modified. A Cored Hero with 600K troops would burn that Trap and take the Hero without slowing down.
Effective solo traps range from 200M to 850M power with Troop counts of 1.6M to 20M. In fact, a few weeks ago I lost a Hero 60 in mediocre Cores to a 211M player. An Alliance member that tried to help also sent a fully Cored March to rescue my Hero…and lost his Hero as well! I know people with Rally Traps that eat full Rallies every weekend in accounts ranging from 850M to 2.6B Power.
To reiterate, I would set the general upper power limit of a Solo Trap at 850M. This means that you can arrange your Research Power and your Troop numbers in any way you’d like to keep your power down below that. The farther below, the better. Throughout this article we will explain exactly which where you Power should come from, and what options you have to keep it low.
Troop and Trap numbers are a widely debated topic because they are dependent on your Hero Gear, Hero Level, Research Power, etc. Instead of telling you exact numbers, this article will teach you the theory behind how many Troops should be needed to compete against T4, and then explain how you may need to adjust your Troop count.
Troop Tiers are worth 2, 8, 24, and 36 power, respectively. Notice that there is a 400% power differential between Tiers 1 and 2, 300% between T2 and T3, and 150% between T3 and T4. What this means is that, assuming everything else (Research, Gear, etc) is equal, a 600k T4 War March is equal to 900k T3, 2.7M T2, or 10.8M T1. A Rally March with 3M T4 would be equal to 4.5M T3, 13.5M T2, or 54M T1. This is obviously very simplified. I am not taking into account Troop strengths, weaknesses, or a whole list of other things. I’m assuming that everything is equal, which it won’t be, but it does give us a good general starting point for trap requirements.
For T1 troops to be effective you need insane amounts of them. Remember also that the lowest Tier Troops will not only die first, they will up fill your hospital beds first and cause your higher Tier Troops to die. That being said, Tier 1 Troops do have some benefits including instant healing, low overall training costs (this is the only Tier that doesn’t require silver to train), and low point yield for enemies in kill events. While Tier 1 Troops have theoretically been “nerfed”, if you train enough of them under their nerfed limits they can be effective.
Most Traps are a combination of Tier 2, 3, and 4 Troops. Even if you haven’t Researched Tier 4 Troops on your Trap account, they can still be included as Embassy Reinforcements (which is an effective way to increase your Troop count without increasing your overall power). Higher Tier Troops have progressively higher Stats (meaning they will inflict more damage on Enemy Troops while sustaining less themselves). They are also progressively more expensive to train and have almost exponential power increases (as seen above). Going strictly by the numbers, Tier 3 Troops should be the most effective Tier as there is the least power differential between T3 and the next highest Tier, T4.
Troop count requirements for traps will vary hugely, depending on overall Research and Gear stats. For a beginning Solo Trap Account…someone with no experience that is Trapping for the first time…start with at least 3 times the cumulative power of a potential incoming War Rally. So, 2.7M T3 or 8.1M T2, some Troop number combination that equals three times the same Troop Power as 600K T4 (Or 64.8M Troop Power) for a Mixed Trap, and at least twice the Troop Power for a Single Troop-Type Trap.
I would also build as many Hospitals as possible and have a full Wall of Traps. Realize that you will lose every time you get hit, probably badly. Over time you will gain experience and can begin to fine tune your account so you don't burn and you win in a point differential.
Include T4 reinforcements in your equation, or use your prior experience from battles on your Trap to calculate a minimum allowable Troop Count (the fewest number of Troops you can have and still win a hit in points).
To minimize the damage you receive, look for Gear with high Health, high Defense, or Enemy Attack Debuff stats. To increase the amount of damage you inflict, choose Gear with high Attack, Enemy Defense Debuff, and Enemy Health Debuff stats. Your ideal Gear Set will likely provide some combination of these Boosts and will be embedded with Gems of the same bonus. If you have a Single Troop-Type Trap, look for Gear and Gems that increase your stats.
For help with finding the best Hero Gear, the Hero Gear Tool is your best resource.
It’s best to have at least 3 presets unlocked so that you can make a missile set for each troop type.
The core sets should achieve these minimum standard boosts:
Try to be original, creativity makes the Game more fun and will probably lead to more success with your Trap Account than anything else!
Increasing your Hero Level increases your available Skill Points, which can then be allocated to your Hero Skill Tree to increase your Hero Boosts. You will want your Hero Skill Tree set for War down the left side.
You might think your best option on the tree would be to max all your Troop bonuses as much as possible, but it’s very important you don’t neglect Trap Attack and Defense. Overall, Wall Traps can be the most powerful attribute to your Trap Account. This is because Traps are strong against all Troop types, and no attacker will send Siege in a Solo March or Rally March. You can also increase your Trap Attack through Research, Hero Gear, and Gems.
In order of priority, other categories you should max are: Health 1 and 2, Defense 1 and 2, Trap Attack 1 and 2, and the rest in two Troop specific bonuses of your choice ie. Infantry, Cavalry, and Ranged.
At Hero Level 55, it's rumored that there may be powerful Hidden Bonuses that apply when your Hero Skills are allocated appropriately. Hero Level 55 opens up Altar Boost Skills. To get the Hidden Bonus, set your Hero Skills down the left side of the Hero Skill Tree, applying the full Skill Points to Altar Boost Health, Defense, and Attack. Obtaining the Hidden Bonus will require the full 30/30 Skills being applied to all three of these Skill Sets.
The Hidden Bonus does not require an active Altar, meaning you don’t have to have executed a Hero recently. Apparently, having an Altar isn’t even necessary and the amount of Hidden Bonus you receive is based upon the layout and proportion of certain Buildings in your Stronghold, including Villas, Hospitals, and Barracks. The Hidden Bonus is said to increase overall Troop Attack, Defense, and Health so it applies to all Troops, and not a specific type. The only requirement for the Bonus is Hero Level 55 and proper application of your Hero Skills. It is unclear as to whether this is a glitch or has been built in by Game of War.
Disclaimer: I am including the Hidden Bonus because it was specifically mentioned in the Comments section of a previous article. I did a lot of Research, so feel that I am fairly well-versed on the subject, but ultimately I was unable to write the article because I couldn’t figure the Hidden Bonuses out. To be honest, though many players will disagree, I’m not convinced that it exists. I literally spent hours setting and resetting Skill Points. Using four different Hero Gear Sets, I set my Skills with and without Altar Bonus Skills on adjacent Presets. I then Equipped the Suits, took screen shots of the Boosts screen, and compared them. The problem is that I couldn’t find a difference in the stats. Again, many players swear by the Hidden Bonuses, but I think they may have been a glitch that has been fixed. However, I’ve talked to multiple people recently that say the Hidden Boosts are active on their accounts. Another theory is that it may not apply past a certain Hero Level. Or, I could be doing it wrong. Ha!
If anyone has further qualified evidence on the Hidden Bonuses, please share in the comments section!
Your wall is what protects your from giving up a lot of event points. Destroying Traps does not reward event points. Using wall Traps is the best way to achieve a positive point differential for you, your Alliance, and your Kingdom.
Most would consider T4 Wall Traps a must: Regular T4 Wall Traps if you are Mixed Troop Trap, and Strategic T4 Wall Traps if you are Single Troop Trap. Increasing your Defense Tree Research to increase your Wall Trap Capacity to at least 270K is also a must. If you are mixed, divide 270K by 3 and build corresponding amounts of each type or Regular T4 Trap. If you are single, you don’t even have to do math: choose the Tier 4 Strategic Wall Trap that compliments your Troop Type. If you are a SH 18 or SH 14 Trap, you still want to maximize your Trap count using the same philosophies.
There are many types of Boosts available on Game of War that increase the efficiency of your game. I will specifically mention only the three most common stats that pertain to your Trap Account: Troop Attack, Troop Defense, and Troop Health. There are many ways to increase these stats, which increases the capabilities of your Trap Account. Some of these are common, but easily overlooked.
The Buildings in your Stronghold can be a dynamic resource when understood that allow fine-tuning of your Trap Account. Buildings (and the Boosts they provide) are not created equally, knowing the purpose of each specific building type is your best starting point. After upgrading all of your Buildings to 21, you should know that it isn’t necessary to keep them there indefinitely. In fact, after serving their purpose (often as a requirement for upgrading another specific building to Level 21), you are able to destroy some of these Buildings to make room for more of the structures you are using as a Trap Account.
The most commonly destroyed Buildings are the Storehouse and Gymnos. Many other Buildings can be destroyed if you’ve weighed the pros and cons, including the Hall of War (if you don’t mind the Gold cost required if you decided to become a Rally Leader in the future), and the Marketplace (if you are a self-sufficient Trapper and won’t need RSS donations from your alliance to Heal). I know of one player that destroys his Marketplace for Kill Events to add a Level 21 Hospital in its place; when the event is over he reverses the process.
The Buildings offering the most advantage to you as a Trapper are Barracks, Hospitals, and Embassy. Villas receive an honorable mention. Each building offers special Bonus Boost (which are dramatically increased with the upgrade from Level 20 to Level 21).
Other Buildings that can potentially be destroyed are the “Gold Buildings” (so-named because they require Gold to finish), which are Hall of War, Prison, and Altar. I wouldn’t recommend doing this because it is expensive, though I do know people that have. It will also take away some other potential Boosts I will mention below. The Watchtower can also be destroyed, but will prevent you from seeing incoming Marches—an obvious downside.
Note: Each of the Buildings within your Stronghold increase your overall Boosts in an additive manner. So, each Building you have will provided a separate Bonus. For example, if you have 10 Level 21 Hospitals, you will have 10 x 5% Health Boost, or 50% total.
The following numbers apply to Buildings that have been upgraded to Level 21:
Increasing your VIP Level also provides boosts that are advantageous to your Trap, allowing you to increase your Attack, Defense, Troop Health. At VIP 17, you will also receive Enemy Attack Debuff, Enemy Defense Debuff, Enemy Troop Debuff, and Embassy Defense Boosts. This is in addition to the other VIP benefits, of course.
Another downside to destroying these Buildings is loss of potential Boosts they provide. Holding Heros in your Prison gives up to 30% Attack Boost (for a Level 50 or higher Hero). Executing a Hero and activating your Altar gives up to 68.4% Boosts for Attack, Defense, and Health (at Hero Level 55 or higher with proper Hero skill allotment).
Having a max Embassy means you can hold 1 million Reinforcements. This is where the large accounts in your Alliance will love you.
They fill your Embassy and get free kills every time you are hit. Your Tier 3 and Hospitals protect their their T4 Troops and they can be off hunting on their own - they don’t need to stick around. Just don't let yourself get Rallied to many times and lose all their Troops... although even if you do, you and your members will probably win on points.
You’ll get Event points for the kills, your Tier 4 Alliance Members will get free points for their kills (with no loss of Troops!), and the hits will be point positive for your Kingdom.
Research is an important part of your Trap. Remember that Research means power. You should be careful about which Research you select for your Trap. I would recommend starting with the basic Research Trees: Combat and Strategic Combat, Wall Traps and Strategic Wall Traps, and Economics (required for Combat).
The other Research Trees have specific benefits that you will need to weigh against the potential power increases. I’ll briefly cover some of the benefits of each Tree:
Pro Tip: If you are a Mixed Trap, consider limiting your Strategic Research to save on power increase.
Game Strategy article contributed by Creed XS
Article 1: What are Trap Accounts and Why Are They Important? Article 2: The Two Types of Trap Accounts Article 3: The Latest Requirements For A Flawless Trap Account Article 4: 5 Advanced Trap Account Strategies Article 5: Build A Perfect Trap With Only $200 Article 6: Best Trap Account Builds Article 7: 7 Ways to Spot a Trap Account Article 8: 4 Piece Cores Strategy for Traps Article 9: Comparing Troop Attack vs. Trap Attack for Trap Accounts
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