“Spawns an army of Skeletons. Meet Larry and his friends Harry, Terry, Gerry, Mary, etc.”
The Skeleton Army is an Epic card that is unlocked from P.E.K.K.A's Playhouse (Arena 6). It spawns 15 Skeletons in a scatter formation. A Skeleton Army card costs 3 Elixir to deploy.
Strategy[]
For Battle Decks with this card, click here
- Due to their high numbers and overall very high DPS, the Skeleton Army is very effective against single target enemy troops and building-targeting troops such as the P.E.K.K.A., Prince or Giant.
- Another benefit is the Skeleton Army's low cost of 3 Elixir, making it a very versatile card that can give the player an Elixir advantage in almost any case.
- Although they have low health individually, their sheer numbers allow for them to be effective at blocking most troops and siege buildings. This can even work for air troops, such as the Inferno Dragon due to the fact that the Skeleton Army can stall and pull the Inferno Dragon away from the tower, giving the Tower Princess a chance to destroy the Inferno Dragon.
- While being powerful in numbers, they are very weak against splash damage and spells; most area damage units will be able to take out the whole swarm without losing health, while low cost spells will take out the swarm quickly and efficiently.
- Despite their area damage weakness, the Skeleton Army is capable of countering directional area damage troops like a Wizard or Bomber. For this to work, the Skeleton Army must be placed directly on top of the unit, surrounding it and overwhelming their area damage before the swarm is defeated. The player must also have the assistance of a Crown Tower to damage down the troop, as otherwise there is a chance the Skeletons could clump up in such a way that the troop could eliminate them all before being defeated.
- The Skeleton Army can bait the opponent into using their area damage spell, allowing the player to use other high DPS swarms such as Goblin Gang safely. However, unlike the Goblin Gang, the Skeleton Army can be fully countered by a wider range of spells. As such, they may not the most effective at baiting out the desired spell, such as The Log, if they have more than one.
- Other swarm troops such as Barbarians and Minion Horde may be more favorable as a substitute, as they have higher hitpoints compared to the Skeleton Army. However, they also have a heavier Elixir cost, which does make them more committal but also makes them more enticing for the opponent to use a higher cost spell like Fireball on them, allowing other spell-vulnerable cards in the player's deck to thrive.
- Poison and Fireball are a negative Elixir trade but do counter the Skeleton Army effectively. However, it is still desirable if the spells can hit other troops too as well.
- The Barbarian Barrel can not only counter the Skeleton Army for a positive Elixir trade but might also force out a response from the opponent. If the Barbarian Barrel is played right at the river, the Barbarian that spawns will get one hit on the Tower Princess left unattended, allowing for minor chip damage. The Royal Delivery can be utilized in a similar way.
- The Skeleton Army's high troop count may cause some Skeletons to be out of range of their target, missing a lot of would-be damage from the target. Because of this, they do not pair very well with other melee troops, as they will occupy more space, decreasing the number of Skeletons that are attacking even further. However, this limitation will not appear with allied ranged troops.
- The Witch works well with the Skeleton Army because she can help spawn more Skeletons to help out. However, be careful doing this as it may cause the opponent to use spells to kill all the Skeletons and possibly defeat the Witch and cause an Elixir loss.
- The Skeleton Army is not recommended to be used offensively, as they can be easily wiped out with spells such as Arrows. However, if the opponent's cheap spell is out of rotation, this play may force non-efficient counters out of their hand, as if the Skeleton Army manages to lock on to a Crown Tower, they will deal extremely high damage to or even destroy it.
- Cheap ranged swarms like the Archers and Spear Goblins are great counters to an offensive Skeleton Army. Their range allows them to kill each Skeleton from a safe distance. Along with the Tower Princess, they can defeat the Skeleton Army while allowing for a slight counterattack afterwards.
- The Skeleton Army cannot target air troops. As such, cheap air swarms like Minions and Bats make great counters to it. Similarly, air splash cards like the Skeleton Dragons can also counter them.
- Their high count allows them to be played in the center or behind the player's King's Tower to cover both lanes. This often entirely deters the opponent from immediately attacking, as they will only be able to spell down half of the swarm with one push.
- If the player has no spells, then the Skeleton Army will be able to negate the damage from a Goblin Barrel. When played behind the Crown Tower, it will cover all positions except the front tiles.
- When defending against the Goblin Drill, the player should wait until the Goblin Drill appears on the surface and then deploy the Skeleton Army to counter it, otherwise the Goblin Drill's spawn damage would OHKO most of the Skeletons. The same tactic should also be used when using it to defend against the Skeletons spawned from a Skeleton Barrel.
- If the player has no other cards to effectively counter an Electro Giant, the Skeleton Army will deal some limited damage to him. Keep in mind that they will likely all die, but the Electro Giant will be weakened.
- Using a Rage on the Skeleton Army makes it a huge threat since they already move quite fast and deal high damage per second. Mirroring or Cloning the Skeleton Army gives a huge numbers advantage. However, trying either of these strategies is very risky, as a splash unit or a spell can wipe it out for a positive Elixir trade.
- Defensively, Freeze + Skeleton Army is capable of destroying many ground based troops that would otherwise obliterate it, like Valkyrie, Mega Knight, and Electro Giant. However, it is very volatile, as the Skeleton Army is frail and vulnerable to spells.
- An Ice Golem is able to eliminate the entire Skeleton Army with its death damage when equally leveled for a positive Elixir trade.
- If a friendly Skeleton King is alive, the player can try to accumulate the Skeleton King's ability by placing down the Skeleton Army and expecting the opponent to defeat it. The Skeleton Army is enough to fully accumulate the Skeleton King's ability, allowing for a threatening push.
- On the other hand, the player should not place the Skeleton Army if an enemy Skeleton King is alive, as it could allow him to create a devastating push through this tactic.
Statistics
Cost |
Hit Speed |
Speed |
Deploy Time |
Range |
Target |
Count |
Transport |
Type |
Rarity |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | 1 sec | Fast (90) | 1 sec | Melee: Short (0.5) | Ground | x15 | Ground | Troop | Epic |
Level |
Hitpoints |
Damage |
Damage per second |
---|---|---|---|
6 | 51 | 51 | 51 |
7 | 56 | 56 | 56 |
8 | 61 | 61 | 61 |
9 | 67 | 67 | 67 |
10 | 74 | 74 | 74 |
11 | 81 | 81 | 81 |
12 | 89 | 89 | 89 |
13 | 98 | 98 | 98 |
14 | 108 | 108 | 108 |
15 | 119 | 119 | 119 |
Card Mastery
Type | Level/Tier | Objective | Reward |
---|---|---|---|
Damage Dealer |
1 | Deal a total of 130,000 Damage to enemy Troops or buildings | 20 Skeleton Army cards 75 |
2 | Deal a total of 390,000 Damage to enemy Troops or buildings | 6,000 75 | |
3 | Deal a total of 650,000 Damage to enemy Troops or buildings | 150 75 | |
Hit Maker |
1 | Hit enemy Troops a total of 2,450 times | 9,000 125 |
2 | Hit enemy Troops a total of 7,000 times | 20 125 | |
3 | Hit enemy Troops a total of 12,000 times | 15,000 125 |
History[]
2016
- The Skeleton Army card was added with Clash Royale's game launch on 4/1/2016.
- On 19/2/2016, a Balance Update, increased the Skeletons' hitpoints and damage by 11%.
- On 29/2/2016, the March 2016 Update, decreased the Skeletons' sight range to 5.5 tiles (from 6 tiles).
- On 3/5/2016, the May 2016 Update, fixed the "range bug" and decreased the Skeletons' range to 0.5 tiles (from 0.75 tiles), but their effective range is unchanged.
- On 18/5/2016, a Balance Update, increased the Skeletons' hitpoints and damage by 5%.
- On 4/7/2016, the Tournaments Update, increased the number of Skeletons spawned to 21 (from 20) and compressed the spawning pattern of the Skeleton Army when the card is deployed by the river. Previously, the Skeletons would spawn on top of the river, even in enemy territory. Its description was also changed, adding the word "Ledoot" on it.
- On 20/10/2016, a Balance Update, decreased the Skeleton Army's cost to 3 Elixir (from 4 Elixir), increased the Skeletons' Levels by 5 (to match the Tournament Standard) and decreased the number of Skeletons spawned to 16 (from 21).
- On 1/11/2016, the November 2016 Update, removed the word "Ledoot" from its description.
2017
- On 13/2/2017, a Balance Update, decreased the number of Skeletons spawned to 15 (from 16).
- On 19/4/2017, a Balance Update, decreased the number of Skeletons spawned to 14 (from 15).
2018
- On 5/9/2018, the September 2018 Update, changed it so that Epic cards start at Level 6 and end at Level 13 (from 1 to 8).
- On 1/10/2018, a Balance Update, increased the number of Skeletons spawned to 15 (from 14).
2019
- On 15/4/2019, the April 2019 Update, added an extra Star Level.
- On 26/11/2019, the End of November 2019 Update, added a card render to the Skeleton Army's card info screen.
2021
- On 7/6/2021, the Summer 2021 Update, moved the Arena to unlock the Skeleton Army from Training Camp to Bone Pit.
- On 2/9/2021, a maintenance break, changed the Skeleton Army's card render.
- On 27/10/2021, the Champions Update, increased the Level cap of all cards to 14 (from 13).
2022
- On 26/10/2022, the 2022 Quarter 3 Update, moved the Arena to unlock the Skeleton Army from Bone Pit to P.E.K.K.A's Playhouse.
2023
- On 19/6/2023, the Card Evolution Update, increased the Level cap of all cards to 15 (from 14).
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The Skeleton Army is 1 of 15 cards associated with Skeletons, with the others being Bomber, Skeleton Dragons, Skeleton Barrel, Tombstone, Bomb Tower, Guards, Witch, Balloon, Giant Skeleton, Wall Breakers, Super Witch, Graveyard, Skeleton King, and of course, Skeletons.
- In the French and Russian language settings of the game, the Skeleton Army's name translates to "Army of Skeletons". In the Italian and Japanese language settings of the game, the Skeleton Army's name translates to "Skeleton Horde" and "Skeleton Troops" respectively.
- Before 2/9/2021, the Skeleton Army's card render was similar to the Skeletons' card render, only having one additional Skeleton.
- The Skeleton Army is one of the first troop cards to receive a card render, alongside the Archers, Knight, Goblins, Bomber, Skeletons, Barbarians, Bats, Royal Recruits, Skeleton Barrel, Rascals, Musketeer, Giant, Valkyrie, Wizard, Flying Machine, Hog Rider, Royal Hogs, Dart Goblin, Zappies, Elixir Golem, Baby Dragon, Witch, P.E.K.K.A, Prince, Balloon, Giant Skeleton, Goblin Giant, Hunter, Electro Dragon, Wall Breakers, Bowler, Cannon Cart, Mega Knight, Ram Rider, Miner, Royal Ghost, Ice Wizard, Magic Archer, Bandit, Lava Hound, Night Witch, and Fisherman.
- The Skeleton Army is 1 of 22 cards that has had its Elixir cost changed, the others being Bomber, Fire Spirit, Royal Recruits, Cannon, Mortar, Musketeer, Three Musketeers, Heal, Bomb Tower, Barbarian Hut, Furnace, Elixir Collector, P.E.K.K.A., Wall Breakers, Electro Giant, Bowler, Goblin Barrel, Barbarian Barrel, Rage, Fisherman, and the Monk.
- According to the 1/10/2018 balance changes, the names of the Skeletons are "Larry", "Harry", "Gerry", "Terry", "Mary", "Barry", "Cherry", "Karrie", "Faerie", "Scary", "Sherry", "Gary", "McClary", "Huckleberry", and "Doot"/"Ledoot".
- The Skeleton "Larry" in the Skeleton Army's description is a reference to the Clash of Clans Larry commercial.
- In the French language setting of the game, 5 of the Skeletons' names are "Kévin", "Kenny", "Katie", "Karim", and "Kelly". In the Spanish language setting of the game, 4 of the Skeletons' names are "Adolfo", "Astolfo", "Rodolfo", and "Ataúlfo". In the Italian language setting of the game, 5 of the Skeletons' names are "Gino", "Pino", "Dino", "Lino", and "Rino". In the Dutch language setting of the game, 5 of the Skeletons' names are "Harry", "Barry", "Eddy", "Tommy", and "Mary". In the Norwegian language setting of the game, 5 of the Skeletons' names are "Inge", "Ingar", "Ingvart", "Ingve", and "Inghild". In the Portuguese language setting of the game, 5 of the Skeletons' names are "Tico", "Teco", "Taco", "Toco", and "Tuco". In the Finnish language setting of the game, 5 of the Skeletons' names are "Lari", "Jari", "Kari", "Sari", and "Mari".
- According to the Tournaments Update, the Skeleton that was removed from the 21/6/2016 balance changes joined the Skeleton Army. However, it was removed from the Skeleton Army in the 20/10/2016 balance changes, but it returned back in the 1/10/2018 balance changes.
- The Skeleton's name was "Ledoot", which was a reference to the Skull Trumpet meme.
- The Skeleton Army spawns the most troops of all troop cards, with a total of 15 Skeletons.
- Along with the Skeletons and Wizard Trio, the Skeleton Army is the only swarm card whose members spawn all at the exact same time.
- Even though the Skeleton Army spawns 15 Skeletons, the card render displays 6 Skeletons.
- In the card image, each Skeleton appears to have a diagonal cross on its eye.
- It has the highest overall damage per second of any troop card, and the second highest overall damage per second in the game, second only to the Inferno Tower at its maximum damage stage.
- The Skeleton Army is the only "value pack" troop card that has a different rarity with its corresponding "basic" troop card (as opposed to Goblin Gang, Minion Horde, and Three Musketeers).
- Using the Skeletons card to summon 15 Skeletons would cost 5 Elixir, whereas using the Skeleton Army card to summon 15 Skeletons costs 3 Elixir.
- The Skeleton Army was featured in the winning deck of the The Crown Duel Tournament, by a player called Backstabx.
- Before the Skeletons Army' card release, the Skeletons' hitpoints and damage were increased by 8%.