X-Bow

"Nice tower you got there. Would be a shame if this X-Bow whittled it down from this side of the arena..."

Summary

 * The X-Bow is unlocked from the Barbarian Bowl (Arena 3).
 * It is a single-target, long-ranged offensive and defensive building with both moderate hitpoints and damage.
 * An X-Bow card costs 6 Elixir to deploy.
 * It appears to be a crossbow with wooden and rock features, blue-grey plastic bottom parts and a shining steel bolt which is its ammo. A rope pulls it behind with each hastened shot.

Strategy

 * An X-Bow is an excellent defensive building due to its extremely long range and ability to take down large numbers of small troops such as Goblins, Spear Goblins, and Skeletons.
 * When defending, you can place the X-Bow behind your Crown Towers as it will be well protected but still able to fire upon attacking enemy troops far away.
 * It can also be used offensively due to its range, being able to out-range the Crown Towers, making for some extremely humorous battles (11.5 vs. 8.5 tile range).
 * Note that the Mortar can do the same thing to Crown Towers, but it deals significantly lower damage per second, has a slower fire rate, has a slightly shorter range (11 tiles), and does Area Damage.
 * The Rocket is the easiest and most effective counter to the X-Bow, due to the fact that the Rocket is slow and that the X-Bow is stationary. Its high damage and its capability to be placed anywhere can easily take out a large portion of the X-Bow's hitpoints.
 * It can also destroy troops or buildings guarding the X-Bow.
 * Air troops like Minions, Mega Minion, and Balloons are very effective at destroying X-Bows, as it cannot hit them.
 * In addition, you will have ample time to prepare for the X-Bow, as it takes 4 seconds to deploy. Overpower it with building-targeting troops, like Giants and Hog Riders, and back them up with Archers or Spear Goblins. Together, they will take down the X-Bow quickly, before it can target your Crown Tower.
 * An X-Bow backed up with some support troops or buildings, such as Spear Goblins or a Tesla, can effectively destroy a Crown Tower. Place the X-Bow behind or near such cards so that it will be protected while it destroys the opposing Crown Tower.
 * High hitpoint troops, such as Giants, can distract enemy troops/buildings, allowing an X-Bow to safely target and attack the opposing Crown Tower or enemy troops while the "tank" takes all the damage.
 * If your opponent's X-Bow has locked onto your Crown Tower, and if you have already placed a distracting card, you can use Zap or Ice Spirit to make the X-Bow re-target the other card instead.
 * When dealing with an offensively placed X-Bow, it's quite effective to deploy a Musketeer behind the river/chasm while the X-Bow is deploying, taking out a large portion of its hitpoints before it's ready to fire.
 * However, beware of opposing defensive buildings/troops next to the X-Bow, as they will take down the Musketeer quickly if she is in a bad position.
 * Casting a Rage on an X-Bow will increase its hit speed, rapidly inflicting damage to the targeted unit/Crown Tower, and will boost the player's troops defending the X-Bow. However, the Rage will also reduce the X-Bow's lifetime.
 * Note that this costs 8 Elixir, which is very risky to play!
 * An X-Bow can destroy a Crown Tower single-handedly if it's ignored by the opposing player.
 * It's wise to deploy it alongside a card with a good amount of hitpoints (the Knight) or a card of high quantity (Skeleton Army), as they can slow down enemy troops sent to destroy the X-Bow.
 * An X-Bow may need protection from a Bomb Tower or a Valkyrie, as it can be sometimes overwhelmed by the Skeleton Army.
 * Mirroring an X-Bow can be risky and costs a very heavy 13 Elixir, but you can deal massive damage to the Arena Tower.

History

 * The X-Bow was released with Clash Royale's soft launch on 4/1/16.
 * On 2/2/16, the February 2016 Update decreased the X-Bow's hitpoints by 15% and now only targets ground (from air & ground).
 * On 9/2/16, the Chest Rewards &amp; Card Balance Update increased the X-Bow's deployment time to 5 sec (from 3 sec).
 * On 23/3/16, a Balance Update decreased the X-Bow's range to 12 (from 13).
 * On 3/5/16, the May 2016 Update fixed the "range bug" and decreased the X-Bow's range to 11.5 (from 12) but its effective range is unchanged.
 * On 21/6/16, a Balance Update decreased the X-Bow's deploy time to 4 sec (from 5 sec) and increased its hitpoints by 18%.

Trivia

 * The X-Bow is the only Epic building in the game.
 * At tournament levels, a Rocket almost completely destroys an X-Bow. If the Rocket is four levels higher than the X-Bow (one level higher than the equivalent level), it will one-shot the X-Bow.
 * The X-Bow has the longest range of any card in the game.
 * The X-Bow is the fastest retargeting card in the game.
 * The X-Bow and the Mortar have the longest deployment time of all cards in the game clocking in at 4 seconds.
 * The X-Bow, Mortar, and Princess are the only cards that can target Arena Towers without getting damaged by it.
 * The X-Bow has the fastest hit speed of all cards in the game, at 0.3 seconds.
 * Because of this, the X-Bow deals the least amount of damage per hit of any card in the entire game, taking multiple shots to kill even Skeletons.
 * In Clash Royale, the X-Bow can only target ground units, while in Clash of Clans it can be set to ground mode or ground & air mode.
 * However, the X-Bow was originally able to target air in Clash Royale.
 * It also shoots Elixir bolts in Clash of Clans, while in Clash Royale it shoots crossbow bolts.
 * It can shoot 133 bolts in its lifetime, dealing a total of 5054 hitpoints in damage at level 8, which is enough to fully destroy a level 11 King's Tower.
 * The X-Bow's description is a reference to a meme known as "Nice X you got there. Would be a shame if something happened to it"

Arc-XX-BogenАрбалетArco-X