What's a Trap Part 1

What’s a Trap? This is an age-old debate within Game of War and it has continued into the Dragon Dimension. While I have written many articles on the subject of trapping it is ever-evolving and changing. Over time here at Realtips you have seen many articles written that address trapping and are more in-depth about the issues that we face as traps.

We have articles that discuss the types of traps and we have articles that discuss frequently asked questions about trapping. We have also created quick guides for defensive, attack, and Wonder players.

Today our goal is to give you a comprehensive quick tip guide that includes the factors you should consider when leveling up as a dragon dimension trap and to include links to guide you towards more in-depth reading. However, because it is me, and I have lots to say about trapping, let’s acknowledge the fact that this guide may not actually be quick.

What’s a Trap?

Ultimately the definition of a trap player is a player that endeavors to appear weak but actually, be able to cap or beat their opponents in battle whether it be via points or losses. The debate sometimes comes into play about whether or not certain accounts or players can qualify as a trap.

Today, it is not our intention to debate this. It is also not our intention to give you a cookie-cutter trap build, the goal of this article is simply to steer you in the right direction when it comes to trapping.

As a trap, it is essential that you understand how the game works, not just the components you need. If everyone built the same, well… then a trap would no longer be a trap as it would not bring the element of surprise.

A good trap is like a snowflake, unique, and with its own character. So while we will give the pros and cons of various elements of the game, ultimately it is up to you and your needs as a player how you implement these suggestions.

Let’s talk Stats

Before we delve into the specifics it is important to understand what stats we are looking for as trap players. We have a whole series that addresses this, so we will only cover the need to know here and after that, it’s up to you to dive into the more advanced knowledge.

As stats have continued to evolve there are two types of stats that we really need to prioritize as traps:

Type Stats- Type Stats are becoming more and more relevant all the time with recent releases. Since they have geared the game towards type play, it is important to pay attention to opportunities to increase your stats in these areas.
Empire Defender Stats- The fact that these stats are not debuffed makes them very important. These stats will lend themselves towards strengthening your account more and more overall when playing on the defensive.

Prioritizing within the Stat Categories

So we know that we want to prioritize both type stats and Empire Defender Stats. However, how do we prioritize within those stats? Our goal should always be to increase overall but if it comes down to making decisions on what to increase we are going to look at health, defense, or attack.

Attack- Attack is going to help you with killing off your attacker’s march. Always prioritize this first. If you have enough attack then begin looking at,
Health- Health is going to strengthen your troops to allow them to fight for longer. Health provides an endurance factor that is essential to ensure that you can continue fighting. Finally, we are going to look at,
Defense- Defense is going to act as a shield and make it harder for your attacker to kill your troops.

Hidden Versus Visible Stats

The terminology you will see frequently within this article include visible and hidden stats. For those of you who are new to the trapper game, it is important to understand this terminology. Without an understanding of this terminology, it will be difficult to continue reading.

What are Visible Stats?

Visible Stats are things that can be seen. These are things such as building levels, Hero levels, banners, power, and gear. It is impossible to hide these stats even with an anti-scout boost.

What are Hidden Stats?

Hidden stats are the opposite of Visible Stats. These stats are a trap’s best friend. These stats cannot be seen and include things such as research with no power (when anti-scout is running), Boost Hall Boosts, Avatar boosts, potions, and more. If you can hide the fact that it is a stat you have it is considered hidden.

The Dragon Dimension Trap Build

Now that we have covered the basics, let’s begin to dive into the different components of a trap.

Troop Composition and Count

Troop Composition and Count are some of our most commonly asked questions. What troops should I build and how many? This is also one of the most difficult questions to answer. When asked this you will often see us say, well it depends on your stats. When we look at troops in the Dragon Dimension it’s important to note that with how troops work the lower the tier you run the more troops you will need. Here are the key things you need to know when building your troops:

The higher the stats the more likely you will be able to run lower tiers of troops.
Many traps choose to run lower tiers as “burners” meaning that they intentionally burn using lower tiers to gain a points advantage in Kill events. Many of these traps rely heavily on hospitals and bed capacity.
A Higher Tier build is more expensive but allows you to run lower troop counts.
Troops mainly act in an attack capacity. Meaning that as you add more troops you will see that your attack improves but you will not see much change in your own losses. This means that “meat shields” are not really a thing anymore. Troop Count should focus on the ability to kill off your attacker’s march as your troops do not help defensively. The higher your attack stats the fewer troops you will be able to run.

If you would like to read more about Troop Composition and Troop count check out The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Trapping in the Dragon Dimension Part 1.

Power

As for traps, for a long time, it has been ingrained into our existence that size matters (yeah I said that). We like being small and appearing weak and helpless. However, when we consider our power there are factors that play into things.

Power Factors

Your biggest source of power will be troops. However, other things will play into this such as building levels, hero levels, older research, dragon levels, empire quests. Heroes at higher levels can pack a hefty amount of power so stay aware of this. If you are looking to be aware of power be sure to check out this article about power and how to obtain it, 5 Tips to Building Your Power Fast.
While too high of power can be a deterrent to attackers so can too low of power. There is a “faction” of lower power traps (tiny traps) who like to remain as small as possible. However, one of the challenges that these traps face is that often they can be overlooked as they are believed to be “zeroed accounts.” When you choose to remain a lower power it can deter hits because you look like a “dead or zeroed account” or you look like an obvious trap. This means that to some degree there is a need to find a healthy balance between unhittable and obvious trap.

With the current state of the game, it is the belief of many that any player below 2 billion “must be a trap or a dead account.” As a player that runs small, I am convinced that I have in fact been mistaken for a dead account many times. When you choose to remain that small there are times where you may need to make it obvious that you are not a dead account. However, this could also tip your opponent off to the fact that you may be a trap.

Buildings

In The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Trapping in the Dragon Dimension Part 2, we discuss buildings as a trap even more in-depth. However, for today we will do the basic rundown.

Main Buildings- With catch-up items being given out we are seeing many accounts at Stronghold 90 and above. While some have chosen to remain smaller due to power and wanting to stand out it does make it difficult due to the fact that at times this can make you look like a “dead” account. Choose your Stronghold level wisely with this knowledge available. Most accounts are currently running Stronghold 90 and above due to the last catch-up token giving instant Stronghold 90.
Hospitals- are the primary choice for many traps. With lower-level buildings saving troops with your hospitals is often more beneficial than any stats you would gain from Villas.
Other buildings- for stats when leveling we are going to look at the Monster Lair and Master Garrison. Both of these buildings have stats that can benefit traps and neither gives power which means they are good buildings to level. Be sure to take a closer look at these two buildings and their stats. Other special buildings may not give stats but be sure to keep an eye on them for their functionality.

What’s Next?

Keep an eye out for more information on the way with Part 2 of this guide. However, in the meantime be sure to check out some of our older articles talking about how to build your stats and get in some of that more in-depth reading.

The How to Build Your Stats Series

We are constantly working to keep this series updated so pardon our dust if it is a little out of date! However, get the basics no matter what style you play in these articles!

How to Build Your Stats in the Dragon War Dimension Part 1 The Foundation

How to Build Your Stats in the Dragon War Dimension Part 2 The Trap and Filler

How to Build Your Stats in the Dragon War Dimension Part 3 The Trap and Filler Again