So, You’re About to Be Attacked…

The Attack Notification

Everyone’s been there. You get the notification on your phone that you’ve been scouted. Or even… You’re being rallied. Now. We have a wide range of players and levels of bases in this game, so for some people, these attack notifications are nothing short of terrifying. For others, they are exciting “bring it on” moments. One thing is true for all: No matter how big or small your base is… the notification is going to elicit some sort of response.

You open up the app and basically you have two choices: take the hit or avoid the hit.

No Shame in Your Game

You choose to avoid the hit. There is no shame in this, and honestly, in a lot of situations, it is the smartest thing to do. Leave that ego at the door, because it’s just not worth it. And if you’re really attached to your ego, you may want to consider this: When you decide to avoid the hit, you relieve your alliance mates of the responsibility to come to your aid. Too often I see people who insist on taking a hit that they know they can’t win. The alliance comes to reinforce and everyone loses substantial troops. Sometimes it’s better for all to just avoid the hit altogether. 

You have two options to avoid the hit. You can shield or you can port and get out of there.

Shield

Shielding requires fuel. You can shield for one-hour increments up to a total of three days. The level of your Command Center will determine which type of fuel you’ll need to use. 

Port

The second option is to port your base away from your attacker. This also requires fuel. This can become expensive as obviously, the farther you port, the more fuel you will consume. After you port, there will be a cooldown time period where you can’t port again unless you have a cooldown speedup. Sometimes, your attacker may chase after you, so be sure to port wisely! You may port and then ultimately end up shielding.

NOTE: For the port to work, you have to port before the attack is launched. Otherwise, the attack will hit you automatically when you port.

Come at me Bruh

You’ve decided to brace for impact and take the hit. It’s time to run through a quick checklist to make sure everything for your defense is ready to go!

What Should Be Ready in Advance

One of the most important things about base defense in this game is to plan ahead and be prepared. There are several things you can do in advance to ensure you are at peak defense when the enemy strikes. Here are the things to keep up to date and/or have prepared in advance.

Base Defending Serum

Have some base-defending serums manufactured and ready to go! Don’t wait until you’re being rallied. You won’t have time to put one together. Depending on your region, you may have access to an array of ingredients now. Visit the Serum Lab and take the time to concoct in advance.

The base defending vial gives up to a 2,400% boost in base defending attack, up to 1,200% in base defending health, and up to 3,600% in base defending armor. 

Overall, a serum can really up your defense game. Below are some of the ingredients available for adding to your base defending serum.

Image	Ingredient	Boost	Percentage
	Fungalcup	Enemy Health Reduction - Reduces the health of enemy troops	150%
	Novaleaf	Armor Piercing - Reduces the armor of enemy troops	200%
	WartBerries	Attack Deflection	150%
	Chillstone Petals	Base Defending Troop Attack - Increases the attack of all units defending your base	200%
	Cooling Fungus	Base Defending Troop Health - Increases the health of all units defending your base	100%
	Snow Leaf	Base Defending Troop Armor - Increases the armor of all units defending your base	300%
	Sunny Olives	Base Defending Troop Attack - Increases the attack of all units defending your base	240%
	Dusk Petals	Base Defending Troop Health - Increases the health of all units defending your base	120%
	Desert Succulent	Base Defending Troop Armor - Increases the armor of all units defending your base	360%

Defense Emblems for your Gear

Ensure the emblems on your defensive gear are maxed and up to date. Make a habit of regularly visiting the armory to combine newly acquired emblems to make higher-level ones. Once you have these, check your equipment and swap out lower-level emblems for the new ones. Below are some of the defensive emblems that are available.

Image	Emblem	Boost	Percent
	Ambush Emblem	Base Defending Troop Attack - Increases the attack of all units defending your base	35.2%
	Courage Emblem	Base Defending Troop Armor - Increases the armor of all units defending your base	129.6%
	Defense Emblem	Troop Armor - Increases the armor of all troops	81%
	Heroic Emblem	Defenses Attack - Increases the attack of all wall defenses	48%
	Morale Emblem	Base Defending Troop Health - Increases the health of all units defending your base	35.2%
	Squad Member Defense	Squad Member Armor - Increases the armor of your squad members	10%
	Squad Member Deflection	Anti-Squad Member Attack Deflection - Increases attack deflection against enemy squad	8.5%
	Squad Member Piercing	Anti-Squad Member Armor Piercing - Increases armor piercing against enemy squad	8.5%
	Squad Member Strength	Squad Member Health - Increases the health of your squad member	10%
	Valor Emblem	Troop Health - Increases the health of all troops	22%

Special Defensive Emblems

If your Expedition Research is complete, you have the option of adding a fourth emblem to each piece of equipment. These are designated as “special emblems”. These offer significant boosts, so I highly recommend completing the research requirements. 

Image	Emblem	Boost	Percent
	Evasion Emblem	Attack Deflection	112%
	Reverence Emblem	Enemy Health Reduction	112%
	Tremor Emblem	Armor Piercing	729%

Emblem Set Leveling

Complete the requirement for the base defense emblem set in the Emblem Set Research. It provides substantial boosts. You will need a level six of each emblem to place on the piece of equipment for the boost to take effect. 

Defensive Vehicles on Your Wall

After you complete the requirement in the Stalwart research, you can have up to two defensive vehicles on your wall. Make sure both slots are filled! In the newer regions, you may only have access to the Cerberus tanks so far. In more advanced regions, you will have the Stalwart Tanks. 

To assign a defense vehicle to your wall:

1. Click on your wall.
2. Select the tab “Defending Vehicles”.
3. If the slot has not been unlocked, click unlock. (This will cost some fuel.)
4. Click Assign.
5. Select the vehicle you want.
6. Click Recruit.

Cerberus Tanks

Stalwart Tanks

This concludes the list of things you need to do in advance to prepare. Now let’s talk about the steps you should take when you get the notification that an attack is looming.

Tell Your Alliance

An alliance is there to support each other. Let your alliance know you’re about to be attacked! They can help you. Someone can port in and reinforce you with squad, extra troops, and mercenaries.

Set Your Defense Hero

Activate your defense hero. I know she’s cute, but Xira is just not going to cut it right now. You most likely want to have Ronen up for this fight.

To change your hero:

1. Click the image of the hero in the top left corner of your screen.
2. Select “Change Hero” (bottom right).
3. Find the hero you want and click “Activate”.

Set Your Defensive Gear

Equip your hero with your strongest set of defense gear. There are several defensive gear sets in this game, and depending on your progression, you may have access to one or all of these.  Defensive gear sets are shown here left to right from earliest to most recent release.

If you have the Rampart or Wingman set, make sure you take advantage of set leveling. Each level provides substantial benefits that boost your gear. Below are stats for Rampart and Wingman both leveled to a maximum of 50.

NOTE:  Some people will argue with this, but If you are new to the game and you don’t have all legendary gear, it’s perfectly fine to mix gear. This is especially true if you haven’t completed your set bonus research.

Light Those Defense Banners!

Depending on how far you have progressed in the game, you can have up to four banners activated in the Monument at one time. Take advantage of this! The defensive banners pack a powerful punch. 

To equip and activate a banner:

1. Go to the Monument.
2. Click the square and select the banner you want.
3. Click activate.

More information about banners can be found here. Below are some of the defensive banners that are currently available.

Activate the Temporary Defense Boosts

Click the icon just below the gold pile on the home screen to open the menu containing all your boosts. Here you will likely find several temporary boosts you can add that will increase your defense for 15 or 30 minutes.

Drink the Defense Serum

You already have a base defending serum prepared. Now is the time to use it! 

To activate a serum:

1. Go to the Serum Lab.
2. Click Serum Inventory.
3. Select your base defending serum.
4. Click Use.

Check Your Hospital

Finally, you want to make sure your hospital beds are empty. When the enemy hits, wounded troops will first fill up those empty spaces. When there is no more room available in the hospital, extra wounded troops will be killed.

Do you have a unique strategy in place for when an attack is imminent? Tell us about it in the comments below!

A special thanks to Jackels, MagnaManX, and DJBabyShark for their contributions to this article.