Let me preface it by saying that it is unusual for me to call a nerf to offense, but I think with the recent changes this is sorely needed. With CWL/NDL stats showing that up to 80% of maxed TH11 bases are getting tripled, offense really needs something to reel it back. And we have people saying that “unless it is 100%, it is not broken” /facepalm

I’ll also say that QW also includes queen charge and any form of sticking healers to AQ.

This seems to go against the “play to win” mantra that I have been preaching for some time now. Nerfs are useless and will only cause the second best strategy to dominate instead. However, I think it is needed because queen walk is ubiquitous and universal in usage making everything else irrelevant. Secondly, whilst I will say that QW is broken, I will definitely say it is a valid strategy to be used and I will definitely use it in every single attack I make. This is vastly different from the stance anti-engineers make because they think they are superior for NOT doing engineering and subsequently losing wars. I will USE it because it is broken and I am ready to switch to an alternative if it gets nerf.

SuperFinch has made a topic here last week, about bowlers needing a nerf. Reading the comments, it is clear that the community doesn’t seem to like this at all. Overall though, I agree with Finch here and think that offense needs some rebalancing right now. There are posts saying that other comps are comparable if not better than bowlers, but do you notice something? Every alternate strategy is qw + whatever, because queen walk is the thing that makes every single comp viable. Every single three-star army right now REQUIRES a queen walk otherwise you will almost certainly fail to three star and that is an issue.

Issue #1: It allows lower level players to hit way too hard against stronger players. I’ve always hated the balance where a lower level can hit up. If supercell wishes to push players to higher levels, then this needs to be rectified in a way. Players will naturally gravitate towards going to higher levels if they can significantly defend better and hit much harder. A new-mid TH10 should be almost completely invulnerable to a maxest TH9 attack, while a new-mid TH10 can easily 3 star a maxest TH9 without effort; that is good balancing.

Some TH10 with 20-40 level AQ can easily crush a mid-maxed TH11 for an easy brain dead two stars using a simple QW + valk spam with the QW alone doing 30-40% destruction which is absurd.

Issue #2: If you do not use queen walk, it is nearly impossible to 3 star a TH11, full stop. That is the crux here, every single attack relies on a good queen walk because it is just too good. If you do not use a queen walk, prepare to disappoint your entire clan as your attack just doesn’t cut it to 3 star a strong TH11.

A good queen walk can provide a ton of utility that no other strategy or opening can provide. You can use her to single-handedly take out multiple objectives and without single infernos, you’re screwed to see the her complete all the objectives easily with rage spells and cloak to cover even 5 point defenses targeting her.

Counter argument #1: “But great skill is required to make full use of your queen walk”

Skill or no, in its current form, QW is just too easy to use. There are specific nuances that one can easily learn within a day, unlike something like loon pathing. Skill should not be everything in an attack, it shouldn’t allow a much weaker player to hit way up. Skill is just a factor and should not be paramount to an attack. The risk of a QW is too low, while the rewards are great.

Counter argument #2: “Then just use single mode infernos!”

It is not as easy as that because AQ can usually use cloak to bypass an inferno without a problem. And will a skilled QW user bring the QW to a single mode inferno? Or would the diligent player just send her in an angle which she will be mostly safe from the inferno?

Will give more counter arguments if I see more.

Solution #1: The easiest solution to this is very simple, remove rage effect from healers so that healers cannot benefit from rage spell. Now, QW will lose 3 life lines and you cannot easily counter the strong point defenses. In its current form, even TH9 healers can heal AQ against 4 maxed TH11 point defenses under a rage spell. This would make QW an attack that really takes skill to use and can easily fall apart if one is not careful. However, this can kill the entire TH10 scene.

Solution #2: Make a dynamic balance between infernos and healing. This might be harder to program and but will improve the balance between TH levels dramatically. Lvl4 healers cannot heal against infernos, unless the player has a TH10 lab. Lvl7 heal spell (TH10) can heal even under lvl3 inferno fire, but lvl6 (TH9) cannot. However, the lvl7 heal spell cannot heal under lvl4 inferno (TH11) fire. Only lvl5 healers and lvl8 heal spell can heal (maybe 50% penalty) under TH11 infernos.

I still stand by my previous suggestions of increasing the gap between TH levels. A mid TH9 + new TH10 defenses should be nearly invincible even if a 30/30 maxed TH9 hit that player. Right now this is a joke because even maxed TH10 can be hit for 70-80% by TH9s with 20/20 royals. A TH10 with 20/20 royals should only require to yawn to obliterate a maxed TH9, something like a 40 miner spam can take down a maxed TH9 with only 2 heal spells and 20+ miners remaining.

I am very confident that healers and bowlers will be hurt really hard the next balancing patch, with probable remake of pekkas and buffs to loons and hogs. Until then, I will continue enjoy crushing bases with my healers and bowlers. Scrubs will not use QW, while I relish in using it knowing that it is broken and ensures I get good results.