The many occupations throughout history that have involved any type of fighting, real or otherwise, require that you learn how to defend before you can truly understand how to go on the offensive. These occupations range from soldiers to martial artists, and yes, even gamers.
“Defense comes before offense. If protecting yourself wasn’t important, boxing quickly becomes a “power punching competition” which we know it isn’t. Before you learn how to attack anyone, you need to learn how to defend yourself, keeping your body out of harm and preserving it for future battle,” according to expertboxing.com.
Playstyles in World War Rising can be looked at in a very similar manner. Knowing how to defend is absolutely necessary to survive to see future battles. Understanding fully what you want to attack, makes for a better attacker.
In this article, we will discuss the progress from trapping to attacking.
What Does Defense Teach Us?
Learning how to defend is crucial.
After all, if you can not defend, the moment you unshield, you will be attacked and have no troops to try and attack with yourself. Setting up a reliable defense ensures that you will be able to attack safely and not have to worry about all of your own troops dying while you are trying to take out others.
Not only do we learn HOW to become strong, but WHY we are strong as defenders. This knowledge can be a major advantage if you decide to change your play style. Some of the best attackers were once trappers. This is for the simple fact that you have so much less to work with when you trap versus your average attacker. Oftentimes (not always, of course) Attackers spend more on average and have the capability to complete more of their accounts in a much more timely manner.
When you know how to defend yourself successfully, you have an idea of how to break your own defenses. This can be an extremely beneficial advantage when it comes to attacking. For example, you can recognize defensive setups, what it took to make them work, and what counters work best.
I Am Ready For the Change
You have been a devoted player of WWR for over two years. This was your first game and you began to learn by taking a solo attack here, a solo attack there. As you learned to build up your power, stats, and defensive strategy, you began to take rallies. Then you began to cap (capture heroes) rallies. As much as you love the game, things have become a little monotonous and you are ready for a change.
It can be quite tedious sitting around all day waiting for the whim of a random attacker to give you a few minutes of excitement. You are ready to take charge of your own excitement! You’re ready to be mobile. You are ready for those extremely impressive attacking reports with your name on them!
It’s time to look at what it takes to become an attacker.
What Steps Should I Take First?
Once you decide to switch up your playstyle, start with stats. You’re skilled with understanding how stats work. You know the difference between Counterintelligence and Enemy Heath Reduction. Knowing the research, the squads, and the stats that come from buildings is not a foreign concept to you. The convenient thing is that you already know completely how they work. You only need to shift your train of thought a little.
Stop looking at your base defending stats and start looking at base attacking stats. Begin to review blogs once more and focus on attack type mercs. Try to become familiar with how each interacts with each other very much the same way that you did when you learned how to defend properly.
Because you have been a focused attacker previously, you may need to do an extensive inventory of your base and the items you possess. Begin looking at packs through new attacker’s eyes and realize which items you may need to fill in missing attacking benefits and items such as attacking gear or attacking boosts.
Other Important Details
Some of the major changes to keep in mind:
- Troop Numbers– This will be the number one change to consider carefully. While defending, the amount of troops you are able to utilize is much larger than the number of troops in an attacker’s march.
- Review your Heroes– Look carefully once more at all of your heroes. Once your focus was defending, so you may need to learn new heroes such as Aria and Ember carefully. While you still may be able to utilize Eli or Bruce depending on what you are trying to do (Eli has Rally Troop and other troop specific skills, not to mention deployment size boost, as an example) look in hero trees and skill appropriately for what you are trying to accomplish. Keep in mind while similar to defending, do not worry about Control Point skills if you will not be doing CP or Garrison skills if you will not be attacking any Garrisons. Make those skills count! Check out our articles on specific heroes here:
- Riggs Hero Guide
- Hire a Commander to Shred Your Enemies with Xira (Traditionally Attack Hero)
- Enlist a New Hero With Ronen!
- Talia Joins the Crew (Traditionally Attack Hero for CP, etc.)
- The Hero Trio: Mara, Ryder, and Jade
- Bruce: A Guide to His Applications and Cost
- Eli: A Guide to His Applications and Cost
- Aria: A Guide to Her Applications and Cost (Traditionally Attack Hero)
- Ember: A Guide to Her Applications and Cost (Traditionally Attack Hero for CP, etc.)
Keep in mind there is nothing set in stone that you have to use any one hero in particular. Utility heroes such as Riggs and Bruce have multi-tasking skills in their skill tree, so be sure to check out each hero tree specifically.
- Look once more at Squads– Squads are extremely interesting in that they are always changing, always evolving, and always developing new ways to be utilized. Similar to defending, squads can each be used against different types of targets and you want to pair them with particular heroes whenever possible and appropriate. Typically, Clare and Melody have the majority of attack skills in their tree, but many attackers like to use Molotov for scout attacks or Hannibal for a mix of armor and attack. See more specific squad details here:
*Protip– A Molotov Scout, or tempered Hanni Scout is a way to find out a person’s troop composition without waiting on a missile. Mercenary troops are shown in the report and although hidden troops still have their numbers hidden, it gives you a much better idea of what your target may be holding. You can send either squad with no hero and regular troops to get a report. Be sure to set up for the appropriate attack power needed for subsequent hits.
- Review Attacking Vehicles- While this is not a massive boost per se, it can make the difference between a loss and a win in some circumstances. Review what attacking vehicles you have and check to see if you can level them any higher for better stats.
- Serums– Prepare attacking serums to be ready when you need them. Keep in mind, similar to base defending stats in serums, base attacking stats only work while attacking another base.
- Enhancements– Make sure you level up enhancement research for attacking.
- Science Academy– If you had limited resources to spend in the Science Academy while you were a defender, you may need to focus on adding Attack type boosts there as well.
- Mess Hall– Check out what ingredients you need for attacking boosts.
Testing Time
Now that you have an idea of the actual items and setups you may need, it’s time to test your theories. Test all boundaries initially. Test different heroes and squad combinations. For example, Xira has Clare skills in her tree, so try to compare testing your Clare with Xira and then Aria. Test how mercenary troops react with each other. Next test march size and the difference it makes. Then test gear. There is a debate on Centurion Gear even at lower levels versus Commodore Gear as an example. Testing the different gear will help you figure out what is best for your setup. Test different skill setups for heroes or squads. Test everything you can!
*Protip– When testing, keep the test as controlled as possible. Change ONE thing at a time. The smaller the detail you change, the more likely you will arrive at a true answer. Hitting random bases to “test” will not yield reliable results since all bases are set up in a wide range of possibilities. Some testing, such as testing heroes, can be difficult since a hero tree alone has so many possibilities. Although it often takes a long time to get to the bottom of things, finding the answers you were seeking is worth it!
Above are two examples of why testing can be so important. Everything in this controlled test is EXACTLY the same except for the attacking troop composition. In these examples, you can clearly see the difference in losses for the defending base between regular t9 Ops troops and a combination of t8 ops for meat and t9 mercenary troops. Different combinations of different mercenary troops will give different results. Experiment to discover which combinations work best for you.
Don’t forget each base you attack is different. When testing, keep the circumstances the same while changing only one aspect at a time, but when attacking in general, try to pay attention to similar patterns and reactions each time you attack different bases.
Let the Fights Begin!
Depending on your personality and or confidence, I recommend jumping right in!
Consider starting smaller to begin with so that you can learn what your attacking abilities are capable of. Be sure that if you lose, you are able to recover quickly so that you can continue playing in your newly chosen playstyle. While you may have a few YOLO moments, you may want to keep in mind that fighting another day as well just means more fun later.
You can start with attacking team members (after they agree!) if you may be a little shy at the possibility of failing. Realize it’s not unusual to feel that way, especially at first. Many players are embarrassed at first and it takes a few wins to build that confidence. We have all been there at some point. Even the best attackers had to begin somewhere, with no knowledge or experience attacking in much the same position you find yourself now. You have an advantage many beginning attackers do not, however. You have an existing knowledge of the game already at your disposal.
When you first begin, scout constantly. This will allow you to quickly learn what type of bases you are capable of attacking. Learn to recognize the important buildings and their levels such as Master Intel or Vehicle Hanger. Recognize researches that indicate stronger bases, for example, any that cost, such as level 100 Combat and the massive amount of t6 it takes, or even the completion of the newest researches indicating packs have been recently bought. Look for patterns in visible troops or the squads and their level being used. There are always tricky circumstances defenders can try (as you well know), however, in general, seeing how attacks behave and comparing them to scout reports will begin to show you where your limitations are.
Distinct Differences
The most obvious difference between defensive and offensive playing in World War Rising is time and choices. When you decide to go hunting, you do not have to be reliant on another player. If you decide to go out solo attacking or even solo rally attacking, you only need to wait on yourself. This alone can be a major incentive to become an attacker. Especially for players that can not be on for long periods of time at once.
Another advantage of attacking is being a part of a solid team while setting or filling rallies. Whether you lead, fill, or take turns with both, Rally Teams can be a great deal of fun! You are limited a bit by other players, but in general, you have like-minded goals. It is different when defending, even with rein. When on a rally team, you are porting and moving around, able to have battles as quickly as you can find targets. While defending you are waiting on attacks by another player that is often few and far between.
It seems only fair to mention the possible increase in cost. Although this is not a hard rule by any means, TYPICALLY attacking can be quite a bit more costly. Part of the reason is the smaller amount of troops available in battle. Other things within a base must be boosted in order to make the limited amount of troops able to be used in a march strong enough to kill upwards of 10 times the amount of troops in a defending base.
In addition, because of the added mobility and having control over what to attack versus waiting, there are more battles in general, at a much more frequent rate. Attacker troops do not have the luxury of landing in a hospital, therefore more troops, in the long run, may die as well. Although the cost of attacking can also be largely target dependent, it would be wise to keep in mind it will more than likely be a more expensive way to play.
One interesting fact to realize is that attacking bases serve a dual purpose, as they still must defend if attacked while attacking. While it is a challenge, it is a thrill, a rush that is hard to deny and can quickly become an addicting new way to enjoy your game!
Player Expertise
I spoke with members of the World War Rising Community and asked them their tips and secrets for tips on becoming an attacker from a defensive standpoint. Here’s what they had to say:
“To me, it’s all about understanding squads and squad skills. Then… the best hero and what stats are important for attacking… then it’s important to find out what is going to boost those specific stats I.e. emblems, banners, serums, mess hall ingredients, and attack boosts… once all that is set make sure banishment and prison boosts are running… Finally don’t forget to battle mark!!!” – IDKWTFIMDOIN (Kilz) Region #547, Basalt Badlands
“Don’t want to be mentioned in any article. But for my experience with the move from trap to attack, the biggest hurdles I found were the things you’d normally overlook. For example, a persistent bonus on gear. It can be very difficult (if not impossible in some cases) to get them. Their stats can add up quickly.
To get to the same attack bonuses the trap turned attack account sits 3 cc levels above the original attack account.” – Anonymous
“The key difference I’ve noticed from trapping in the oldest timeline to attacking is research. There are so many bloated whale bases with high tier troops and no research to back it up.
The approach to attacking here is different as well. I’ve had to learn to use Phoenix to scout and on occasion Molotov because unlike the younger timeline where power is a really good indicator of what someone has here there are so many variables. E.g a 3 billion power base which is all mercs and important merc research won’t burn. But an 8 billion power base with all its economic research done and 24 max level farms will burn like tinder.
Learning to trap has also helped as an attacker to identify traps but my approach is still very much YOLO and you only really know it’s a trap if you get capped badly lol.
One last point… barracks suck in the oldest timeline, Mash all the way even for attack.” – Fluffykittn (BOM) Region #521, Saiph
What Comes Next
Going from Trapping to Attacking can be a fun and exciting challenge! Take a look below at a few other avenues to enhance your game.
Focus on Attacking
Learn About Different Attacking Strategies
Trapping and Defense
Eat Up Those Incoming Troops!
How to Defend Against a Base Attack
Keep a Sense of Humor
A Day in the Life of a WWR General
Other Topics to Brush up On:
Understanding Blogs is CRUCIAL
Safety First
No matter what is occurring, be sure safety is always first!
Gaming Safety for Female Gamers
Conclusion
Sometimes you just want to switch up your play style. Being an attacker can be fast-paced and an exciting alternative to try!
Please remember that any comments made are to assist players in the process of going from defender to attacker and is NOT a guarantee that the exact result you desire will occur.
I would like to thank the awesome player experts who assisted with this player-inspired article on how to become an attacker from a previously defensive base:
IDKWTFIMDOIN (Kilz) Region #547, Basalt Badlands
Fluffykittn (BOM) Region #521, Saiph
BoostCobra (Kilz) Region #547, Basalt Badlands
Join the Conversation!
To speak with our Command Team and others, join us on Discord, Line, and Facebook to have more in-depth conversations about other ways to go from defender to attacker. We’ll be there!
