CoC BB - Should I rush the Builder Base?
There's a debate that has raged within the Clash of Clans community for years ->
To rush or not to rush?
THAT is the question! Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous farming raids, or take arms against a sea of enemies and by maxing vanquish them in war.
Ok...Shakespeare aside, this is a question that has been hotly debated in the Clash community for many years. On the Home Village (HV), there became two very distinct camps - one that was serious about Clan Wars and insisted maxing was the ONLY way, and one that was more focused on farming and casual war who realized you could get a lot more by rushing the game. As anyone can see (just hit the NEXT button a while)...rushing is far more common on the HV, although maxing is still a must for the serious war monger.
What about the Builder Base (BB) though?
The Builder Base is a real-time PvP game. It's very design is not only conducive to the rusher mindset, it actively ENCOURAGES it. The trophy ranking system has no limits - you're able to go as high as you want...or, more to the point, as high as you can get. Of course, the higher you go, the more you face higher level opponents and often stronger opponents, so you'll start losing. This is how the game self-regulates position within the ranking system - eventually, you hit a wall and at that point, you either upgrade or suffer the slings and arrows of your opponent's superior troops!
The smart player embraces the design of a game and works within it rather than against it. As such, a smart plan to rush your game is the way to go. There are 3 levels of rushing on the BB:
1) The Hyper-Rush - This is where you just rush to the highest Builder Hall (BH) level as fast as possible. You max the cheapest troop (Raged Barbarians), drop everything new, max the Gold Storages, upgrade to the next BH level...lather, rinse repeat. I've run a few hyper-rush games over the last year and documented these both on my blog and the forum.
2) The Conservative Rush - This rush is probably better for the more casual player. In a conservative rush, you keep your defenses never more than 2 levels below the BH level before upgrading and you max only key troops. I usually max to BH3, rush fast to BH5 (to get the Battle Machine), then go to BH6 and start the process of upgrading 2 levels below before upgrading until I hit BH8, where I go through the final clean-up.
3) Custom Rush - I call this a "custom rush" because it's more customized and kind of a mix of the above two. It's faster than a conservative rush but not a hyper rush. This is my preferred upgrade path - I max BH3, then focus on key defenses and key troops, leave the Battle Machine (BM) at level 1 until BH8, and move quickly through the BH levels. BH8 becomes a clean-up level with most defenses at L3 or L4.
What's the benefit of rushing? Well...first and foremost, you get to play with the higher level toys sooner. If someone were to try maxing the game, they'd be many moons before ever seeing the fifth Army Camp at BH7, much less the sixth one at BH8; that's to say nothing of having access to the increased troop units available at higher levels, awesome defenses (Roaster, Giant Cannon, MegaTesla), and better troops (Drop Ships, Super PEKKA). Power Potions even let you run like you have fully maxed troops (for your lab level) so you can test out new/higher level troops once you have them unlocked.
From a competitive standpoint, it's a given that you'll move up the trophy rankings MUCH faster if you rush. A hyper-rushed BH8 at 1500 trophies will completely and totally trounce most players it comes up against. In fact, a L1 defending BH8 with L12 troops will find itself in the 3000+ trophy rankings very quickly. That means more loot...which, in turn, means you'll be able to upgrade things more quickly.
Of course, the next question to ask...is there a downside? The answer is generally no...but there's a caveat.
Remember what I mentioned earlier about how there's no ceiling on the trophy rankings and it's self regulating? As a rushed game, you will eventually hit the ceiling for your offensive/defensive capabilities and attacking skills. When that happens, you will start seeing more opponents who 3-star your base and an ever increasing number of losses. In fact, there will likely come a time when the typical 50:50 win:loss ratio flips upside down on you and you see more losses to get to your daily wins. That can be completely, utterly demoralizing. Some players hit this point and are convinced the game is unfair, matchmaking is a disaster, and there's no point in playing because you just can't seem to get ahead.
You need to take a moment to review the bigger picture. You made it much further along in the game, far more quickly, than any other upgrade path. You're getting more play time at much higher level of play that is far more interesting. And - most importantly - if you just hang in there, your game will reach a balance point where you get back to the 50:50 win:loss ratio.
If you keep this in mind - go in with the right expectations - you'll come out the other end a competitive player with a great game.
Next up: HOW to rush the BB!
Check out the companion video to this article with lots of great replays shared by players from all over the world!
To rush or not to rush?
THAT is the question! Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous farming raids, or take arms against a sea of enemies and by maxing vanquish them in war.
Ok...Shakespeare aside, this is a question that has been hotly debated in the Clash community for many years. On the Home Village (HV), there became two very distinct camps - one that was serious about Clan Wars and insisted maxing was the ONLY way, and one that was more focused on farming and casual war who realized you could get a lot more by rushing the game. As anyone can see (just hit the NEXT button a while)...rushing is far more common on the HV, although maxing is still a must for the serious war monger.
What about the Builder Base (BB) though?
The Builder Base is a real-time PvP game. It's very design is not only conducive to the rusher mindset, it actively ENCOURAGES it. The trophy ranking system has no limits - you're able to go as high as you want...or, more to the point, as high as you can get. Of course, the higher you go, the more you face higher level opponents and often stronger opponents, so you'll start losing. This is how the game self-regulates position within the ranking system - eventually, you hit a wall and at that point, you either upgrade or suffer the slings and arrows of your opponent's superior troops!
The smart player embraces the design of a game and works within it rather than against it. As such, a smart plan to rush your game is the way to go. There are 3 levels of rushing on the BB:
1) The Hyper-Rush - This is where you just rush to the highest Builder Hall (BH) level as fast as possible. You max the cheapest troop (Raged Barbarians), drop everything new, max the Gold Storages, upgrade to the next BH level...lather, rinse repeat. I've run a few hyper-rush games over the last year and documented these both on my blog and the forum.
2) The Conservative Rush - This rush is probably better for the more casual player. In a conservative rush, you keep your defenses never more than 2 levels below the BH level before upgrading and you max only key troops. I usually max to BH3, rush fast to BH5 (to get the Battle Machine), then go to BH6 and start the process of upgrading 2 levels below before upgrading until I hit BH8, where I go through the final clean-up.
3) Custom Rush - I call this a "custom rush" because it's more customized and kind of a mix of the above two. It's faster than a conservative rush but not a hyper rush. This is my preferred upgrade path - I max BH3, then focus on key defenses and key troops, leave the Battle Machine (BM) at level 1 until BH8, and move quickly through the BH levels. BH8 becomes a clean-up level with most defenses at L3 or L4.
What's the benefit of rushing? Well...first and foremost, you get to play with the higher level toys sooner. If someone were to try maxing the game, they'd be many moons before ever seeing the fifth Army Camp at BH7, much less the sixth one at BH8; that's to say nothing of having access to the increased troop units available at higher levels, awesome defenses (Roaster, Giant Cannon, MegaTesla), and better troops (Drop Ships, Super PEKKA). Power Potions even let you run like you have fully maxed troops (for your lab level) so you can test out new/higher level troops once you have them unlocked.
From a competitive standpoint, it's a given that you'll move up the trophy rankings MUCH faster if you rush. A hyper-rushed BH8 at 1500 trophies will completely and totally trounce most players it comes up against. In fact, a L1 defending BH8 with L12 troops will find itself in the 3000+ trophy rankings very quickly. That means more loot...which, in turn, means you'll be able to upgrade things more quickly.
Of course, the next question to ask...is there a downside? The answer is generally no...but there's a caveat.
Remember what I mentioned earlier about how there's no ceiling on the trophy rankings and it's self regulating? As a rushed game, you will eventually hit the ceiling for your offensive/defensive capabilities and attacking skills. When that happens, you will start seeing more opponents who 3-star your base and an ever increasing number of losses. In fact, there will likely come a time when the typical 50:50 win:loss ratio flips upside down on you and you see more losses to get to your daily wins. That can be completely, utterly demoralizing. Some players hit this point and are convinced the game is unfair, matchmaking is a disaster, and there's no point in playing because you just can't seem to get ahead.
You need to take a moment to review the bigger picture. You made it much further along in the game, far more quickly, than any other upgrade path. You're getting more play time at much higher level of play that is far more interesting. And - most importantly - if you just hang in there, your game will reach a balance point where you get back to the 50:50 win:loss ratio.
If you keep this in mind - go in with the right expectations - you'll come out the other end a competitive player with a great game.
Next up: HOW to rush the BB!
Check out the companion video to this article with lots of great replays shared by players from all over the world!
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