It has been a few months since Professor Fins has addressed rally traps and the game has certainly moved on since then! It’s time to give my favorite students an updated guide on the current state of the game and taking hits from those Monster leads. You should review my previous articles on this topic – you will find them here in Part 1 and here in Part 2 of my rally trap guide – as I go into some of these concepts more in-depth in my earlier articles. Since we are still trapping against Tier 7 troops, the information in the guides remains sound, we just need to update some of the gear and stat selections to address five months of releases!
The “only because my editor made me do it” Disclaimer: The stats and gear selections presented in this article are current as of the date of publication. As anyone who plays Dragon Dimension knows, MZ is always releasing new components to the game and sometimes even changes stat functionality without notice. With every release that occurs, the information contained in this article will become more stale (unless updated, of course!). Use this information at your own risk!
Appearances Matter when Trapping
One thing that has remained constant in this game as a trap is that your appearance continues to matter when you are fishing for a biggun! Leads and their fillers are constantly looking for targets that they think will burn. Over the last 60 days, one thing that I have begun to notice is that many leads are looking for targets that are, at least visually, on the large side. My guess is that we could probably write an entire book on the psychology of leads and why this is their current target selection, but who would read it?
What size and power does an ideal target look like to a lead? These players display a Stronghold level in the Level 120 to 130 range and show 20 to 25 Billion in power. As a trap player, I hate to be big! My current Stronghold level is 112 and I usually show around 10 Billion in Power. Sure, I get hit quite a bit but I have noticed that I am passed over for players that are in the 120s and show higher power when bigger leads port into the area we are sitting. This is a strong indicator that my account appears too weak and that I need to grow.
Another consideration is your VIP level. Based on my observations, leads appear to still make hit / don’t hit decisions based on your VIP. Current best practice is to keep your VIP in the 180s. While I have seen leads hit higher VIP levels, taking your VIP into the 190s is likely to make you less appealing to many of the active leads.
Hero Selection for Rally Traps
Another constant is Hero selection for rally traps. The current best practice remains to use your Draconic Knight (Hero III) Hero to take rallies. The “Why” has remained the same too – the increase in your hospital capacity. This increase can be the difference between staying point positive and losing during Kill Events. The more critical issue is how high can you take the Draconic Knight before leads turn away? At present, our Draconic Knight Hero maxes out at 350. The current best practice is to maintain your Draconic Knight level between 250 and 300. Anything higher than 300 appears too strong to many leads.
Gear Selection for Rally Traps
What I have said in the past about using bait gear or matching the gear to the events that are running (monster, training, etc.) remains true. As long as you are actively watching for rallies then you should have ample time to switch gear before a rally hits. What has changed since class was last in session is the best available gear for rallies.
At present, the strongest defense gear available to a rally trap is the Lava Titan Gear Set. The stat value for this set announced in the blog is shown here:
This gear set can also be leveled up and the individual gear pieces can be powered up in the Gear Workshop, thus making it even stronger! Are you likely to be hit a lot if you are showing this gear? Probably not given how high the Empire Defender stats are for this set. You could, however, swap into this gear if a max player sets a rally on you but you will want to wait until the last seconds to do so to prevent them from canceling the rally.
My personal choice when it comes to rally gear is the Lycan Gear Set. The stat value announced in the blog when this gear set was originally released is shown here:
Similar to the Lava Titan Set Gear, the Lycan Set Gear can also be leveled and powered up in the Gear Workshop for increased Empire Defender stats. When you compare these two gear sets, the reason that I think Lycan is the better choice is that it has been out longer and leads are not as leery of hitting it as they once were. Their primary concern tends to be focused on the most recent releases as they are still evaluating the impact of those releases on the game.
One final point that I would like to make is that trap players should not be afraid to mix and match pieces of gear from old and new defense sets! Doing so will hide the set gear level of your gear and could make you appear weak to leads.
Gem and Rune Selections for Trap Gear
The gems you use in your gear can be critical to winning and losing against a big lead. As of right now, the strongest gem set available for rally traps is the Elite Counter Strike Gem Set shown below.
What makes this gem set so strong is the Gem Set Bonus for Empire Defender Attack (160,000%) and Empire Defender Defense (197,500%). It is very hard, however, to obtain a full set of these gems. If you cannot obtain the full set, but want to take advantage of the defense gems in the set, the gems you would want to add to your gear are the Elite Defense Gem – April 2021 (the purple gem) and/or the Elite Counter Strike Gem – April 2021 (the special gem).
Your next best gem set for trapping is going to be the Spiral Abyss Gem Set shown below.
I have used the Spiral Abyss Gem Set successfully against big leads as recently as the last KvK. However, I would be much more comfortable if I had seven full sets of the Elite Counter Strike Gem Set!
As for your Rune selections, I recently wrote an article about runes that you can access here. In summary, the best runes for trap players are the Magma Fire Rune, Tectonic Earth Rune, Rapid Water Rune, and Siphon Void Rune.
Banner Selections
Ah, banners. So many choices based on how you configure your account. If you are continuing to run with one troop type, then I think it makes sense to carry that forward into your banner selections. Accordingly, your strongest banner configuration as a rally trap for Infantry Only would be the Enchanted Blade, Royal Trident, Elite Infantry, and Luchadore Power Banners. A Ranged Only setup would favor the Enchanted Barrage, Royal Monument, Elite Ranged, and Maraca Misterio Banners. A Cavalry Only setup would use the Enchanted Guard, Bronze Armor, Elite Cavalry, and Sombrero Super Banners. For each of these configurations, you will need to determine which special banner works best for you. My personal choice would be the Special: Winter Warrior Banner for the 28,000% Enemy Troop Attack Debuff.
If you are running an even mix of troops in your rally trap, my suggestion would be that you use the Enchanted Blade, Enchanted Barrage, and Enchanted Guard Banners for the type stats. If you do not have those banners, you can always go with the Royal Trident, Royal Monument, and Bronze Armor Banners. You would then fill out your fourth banner slot with one of the Epic Banners (Decimation, Annihilation, or Eradication) or the Silent Strength Banner (83,000% Empire Defender Health at Level 6) and use the Special: Winter Warrior Banner for your special banner slot.
If your playstyle favors Empire Defender stats, which is not a bad thing, then you should focus on the Epic Banners – Decimation, Annihilation, and Eradication – and you could further bolster your Empire Defender Health by adding in the new Silent Strength Banner. A good recommendation for your final banner slot would be the Special: Winter Warrior Banner for the attack debuff.
Defending Wall Monsters for Traps
My previous suggestions for your wall monsters remain correct. I still firmly believe that you should maintain a strong base of monsters that provide Empire Defender stats in your rally trap and then fill out your remaining slot with one of the monsters that provide type stats. Thus, your base would include the Golem, Stone Golem, Turkey Drake, and Bone Ice Dragon as these four monsters provide the strongest Empire Defender stats available. From there, you can choose between the Waterlord Forest Dragon (Infantry), Were Polar Bear (Ranged), or Reaper (Cavalry). Between the three possibilities, if you are running a one type build, match your type. If you are running an even build, you could swap out the monsters to counter the incoming rally (if you have time) or simply shore up your weaker type stats with the corresponding monster.
How to use the Pantheon as a Rally Trap
Quite frankly, I have been burned too many times when it comes to the Pantheon because I keep forgetting to deactivate the deities. That said, I only activate my Pantheon when a whale decides to set on me. If you are better than me at remembering, kudos to you! The deities available within the Pantheon leave you a lot of room to play around but that depends on how high your Pantheon has been raised. You will either have the ability to select two or four deities, depending on your Pantheon level.
I believe that the strongest defensive deities available to rally traps are in this order (best to worst): (1) Apollo’s Fire (Empire Defender Stats); tied for (2) Helios’s Triad Burst (Infantry), Hyperion’s Might (Ranged), and Deimos’s Fervor (Cavalry); and tied for (3) Demeter’s Wit (Infantry Debuff), Hestia’s Malice (Ranged Debuff), and Gaia’s Triad Burst (Cavalry Debuff). As you can see, I place Empire Defender Stats above everything else here. I do that for the simple reason that I am always going to activate my Empire Defender stats if a big lead has set on me. If I am running one troop type then I will also select the deity that matches that setup. As I currently can activate 4 deities, I would round out my selections with one of the type deities that shores up my weaker troop type against the attacker’s march and then try to debuff the type the lead is sending.
Dragon Reinforcements
Yes. Yes, you want reinforcements when you a trapping against a big lead. Does it matter which dragon? Honestly, no. I have been reinforced by every dragon available, including Pinky. At the end of the day, all that matters is that you have been reinforced. I know people find this hard to believe but it is true. Do not spend too much time overanalyzing this. Just get reinforced. Sure, it is nice to get a matching type dragon when you are running one troop type. Does it matter to the result? Not that I have seen. What you really want are fat, healthy dragons in your stronghold. If you get that, you will be fine.
Troop Composition / Troop Count
The answer to the troop composition and troop count question when it comes to rally trapping can be tricky. It really depends on your overall stats. A good rule of thumb that we preach (and probably will continue to preach) is that trial and error is your friend. Build as high as you are comfortable with and take a hit. If you do not burn but do not kill the entire march, you need to increase your attack stats OR increase your troop count. If you burn and do not kill the entire march, adding troops is not going to help you. In that situation, you need to add defense and health stats to address the burn.
For my account, I have found that a good troop count for me is around 220 Million troops. I can usually kill the entire 59 Million Troop march of most leads, including Chosen and EJ 02, at that number. My troop composition at that number is usually 200 Million of my primary troop (the one that I will activate Synergy for) with 10 million of the other 2 troop types so that I can fill rallies if needed. At the start of events, my troop count may be higher, as high as 450 Million troops, if I think that I am going to be extremely active in filling rallies and do not want to spend a lot of time retraining troops.
Target Stats for Rally Traps
I am frequently asked what the minimum stats one should shoot for to be a rally trap. I cannot answer that question. No one can, quite frankly. What I can do is share my current stats with you and assure you that my stats allow me to take rallies from whales as of right now. Next weekend could be a different story! LOL Here are my current status with me using the Lycan Gear Set embedded with the Elite Counter Strike Gem Set and the runes that I recommended earlier:
Where to go for Additional Information
I hope you enjoyed this article! Team Real Tips has guides for pretty much all aspects of Game of War. Remember, our beloved game is constantly changing. Thus, the burden remains on YOU to educate yourself on those changes. Read the blogs released by MZ! Ask questions of RealTips writers in our Line rooms and on Discord! Remember, there really is no stupid question and we are happy to help you understand the stats that you are working with!
Join the Conversation on our community sites!
I am active in many of the Game of War Line rooms (Line Display Name: FinsUp / Line ID finsupgow) and I am always willing to answer player questions in the rooms or via Direct Message. If I do not know the answer to a question, I am always happy to find the answer or to test your theories to determine the best practices one can take in building their account.
