Lava Hound

These fiery beasts can't resist chasing after Air Defenses, providing excellent protection for other troops. Once destroyed, they erupt into many smaller, weaker menaces.

Lava Hound is a Clash of Clans troop trained with Dark Elixir.

He is unlocked by upgrading the Dark Barrack to level 6, which requires a Town Hall level 9.

Lava Hound Explained

Lava Hound is a melee flying unit that targets only ground units and is famously known as being the strongest troop on the game.

With 7,600 HP the Lava Hound is stronger than its ground competitor, the Golem.

His preferred target to attack is Air Defenses, which makes him an excellent support troop on air attacks. However, this means he will never attack defense troops, including flying skeletons from the Skeleton Trap.

Lava Hound Special Ability: Lava Pups

Upon death, the Lava Hound "explodes" and splits into several Lava Pups, making additional splash damage. He is, with Balloons and Golems, the only troop that deals damage upon death.

Lava Pups look similar to a Lava Hound, but they are tiny, have low health, don't have a preferred target, and can attack ground/air targets.

Since they don't have any preferred target, they will always attack the closest building. They will also stop attacking defenses and target enemy Clan Castle troops of Skeletons from the Skeleton Trap when they are nearby.

Their low health makes them vulnerable to Wizard Towers and Air Bombs.

How to Use Lava Hounds

Lava Hounds are known for having a huge amount of health, so their best use is as "tanks" to lead air attacks protecting more vulnerable troops behind.

The most common formation is with Balloons or Dragons. The Lava Hound leads the attack going directly to Air Defenses, luring them for some time, while a massive Balloon/Dragon attack comes from behind.

With a massive Balloon attack going on one side of the village, the best formation is to aim one Lava Hound on each Air Defense. For this reason, it's common to take 2 Lava Hounds on the attacks, one for each Air Defense.

On defense, the easiest way to destroy a Lava Hound fast is to keep Seeking Air Mines close to Air Defenses. Seeking Air Mines are quite powerful and can severely damage Lava Hounds, although they are not enough the explode them alone.

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