“Nice tower you got there. Would be a shame if this X-Bow whittled it down from this side of the Arena...”
The X-Bow card is unlocked from the Builder's Workshop (Arena 6). It is a single-target, long-ranged offensive and defensive building with both moderate hitpoints and damage output. An X-Bow card costs 6 Elixir to deploy. It appears to be a crossbow with wooden, stone, and metallic features along with a shining steel bolt for ammunition.
Strategy
- An X-Bow should never be ignored as it can single-handedly destroy a Crown Tower.
- Placing the X-Bow one tile away from the river in front of the Princess Tower will maximize its attacking range and make enemy melee troops have to walk onto the player's side. They will be chipped down more quickly as they will walk in range of the player's own Princess Tower. The X-Bow can also be staggered one tile to the left or right, but any more will cause the Princess Tower to be out of the X-Bow's attacking range.
- An X-Bow is a powerful defensive building due to its extremely long range and ability to take out large numbers of weak troops such as Goblins, Spear Goblins, and Skeletons. When defending, the X-Bow can be placed behind or between the player's Crown Towers as it will be well protected but still able to engage attacking enemy troops from afar.
- If the X-Bow is placed three tiles from the river, cards with a six tile attacking range like the Musketeer can snipe it and take it out for a good trade. The player should be mindful of what cards are in their opponent's deck and when they are in hand to try and block them, allowing the X-Bow to stay alive longer.
- It can also be used offensively due to its range, being able to out-range the Crown Towers. Note that the Mortar can also out-range Crown Towers, but its significantly lower damage per second and lower overall damage over its lifetime makes it less threatening.
- The Rocket is a decent counter to the X-Bow. The Rocket will almost completely destroy the X-Bow and can clip other units nearby for a positive Elixir trade. However, the X-Bow will still take around 20% of the Princess Tower's health before dying, so it can't be solely relied on throughout a match.
- Building targeting troops like the Giant and Hog Rider are some of the most effective X-Bow counters as only other buildings will distract them, allowing them to pummel the X-Bow directly. Air troops are also a good alternative as the X-Bow will require other support in order to take them out. Lastly, ranged troops placed at their maximum attacking range will be difficult for the X-Bow player to deal with as their units will not be able to immediately engage your defender.
- Cheap tanks that deal moderately high damage per second like the Knight can also be a great Elixir-efficient counter to a lone X-Bow.
- However, air troops in turn will not be able to distract the X-Bow, so be sure to have appropriate ground troops to tank for the X-Bow.
- Most ranged troops lack a large amount of health, so consider backing them up with a cheap tank to allow them to continue taking down the X-Bow.
- The Cannon Cart, Bowler, and the Royal Giant have both the range and hitpoints to contest an X-Bow 1-on-1. The Royal Giant is particularly effective as it targets buildings and will have over half its health left to counterpush, demanding further response.
- An X-Bow takes 3.5 seconds to deploy, giving the defender ample time to place cards to distract the X-Bow and prevent it from locking onto their Crown Towers, as well as deal with its supporting troops. With sufficient cards, this can then be turned into a punishing counterpush. Placing the distraction unit at the last second is usually the most effective way to distract the X-Bow as the opponent won't be able to react to the unit and eliminate it before the X-Bow finishes deploying. The defender can also mix up their timing and play their unit immediately to catch their opponent off guard, such as with an immediate Inferno Tower.
- It is advised to tank for the X-Bow so it does not take the brunt of an attack and can carry on chipping away at the tower. Cheap tanks such as Ice Golem are the most versatile as the X-Bow has a hefty 6 Elixir cost. More frail troops should still be placed behind or beside the X-Bow, as they will otherwise die too quickly to gain any value. The exception to this are frail troops that are designed to be a distraction, such as Skeletons.
- If the player misses their timing for a distraction and the X-Bow is locked on to their Crown Tower, using any card with a stun effect such as Zap will force the X-Bow to retarget to the nearest entity, which is helpful in denying a lot of would-be damage.
- Casting a Rage on an X-Bow will increase its hit speed, rapidly inflicting damage to the targeted unit or Crown Tower, and will also boost the player's troops supporting the X-Bow. However, the Rage spell will also make the X-Bow decay more quickly. Note that this costs 8 Elixir, which is very risky to play and can be easily countered by a tank for a positive Elixir trade.
- Deploying an Inferno Tower next to the X-Bow can defend it from tanks like the Giant that would destroy it or otherwise distract it for a long time.
- If the opponent puts down swarm units (ex. Goblin Gang or Minion Horde), then get ready to deploy splash units, such as the Ice Wizard, or spells, such as Arrows or The Log.
- The combo is expensive and risky; it costs 11 Elixir to place, and can be easily nullified using certain cards such as Lightning.
- A cheaper, less polarizing alternative is the Tesla. It clears small swarms faster and cannot be damaged by spells unless it is attacking, but isn't nearly as effective at taking out tanks.
- When facing an X-Bow, the player should always try to go for the first crown and then the 2-1 victory. If they take down a tower, it will be very difficult for their opponent to take down the tower that is opposite to their destroyed tower. This is because of the extra terrain that is given to a player after destroying a Princess Tower, allowing them to place troops directly on top of the X-Bow. This works particularly well with 360° splash damage troops, such as the Valkyrie, as if it is placed on top of the X-Bow, no matter what your opponent places down, the Valkyrie will start damaging the X-Bow and also tank it.
- In a situation where both players have lost a Princess Tower in opposite lanes, the X-Bow user should attack the tower opposite to their destroyed one by placing their X-Bow in the middle. This limits the areas in which their opponent can deploy troops directly on top of the X-Bow. Going for the King's Tower is not recommended, as all four sides of the X-Bow will be vulnerable to being deployed on and the King's Tower's higher amount of hitpoints will be difficult to break through consistently.
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 made it only target ground (from air & ground).
- On 9/2/16, the Chest Rewards & 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%.
- On 11/8/17, a Balance Update decreased the X-Bow's deploy time to 3.5 sec (from 4 sec).
- The 20/6/18 Update moved the Arena to unlock the X-Bow from Barbarian Bowl (Arena 3) to Builder's Workshop (Arena 6).
- On 4/3/19, a Balance Update increased the X-Bow's hitpoints by 4%.
- On 9/12/20, a Balance Update reworked the X-Bow, increasing its damage by 30%. However, its lifetime was reduced to 30 sec (from 40 sec), its hit speed was increased to 0.30 sec (from 0.25 sec), and its hitpoints were reduced by 4%.
Trivia
- The X-Bow is the only Epic building in the game and has the highest rarity out of all the buildings in the game.
- At tournament levels, a Rocket almost completely destroys an X-Bow. If the Rocket is one level higher than the X-Bow, it will one-shot the X-Bow.
- The X-Bow and the Mortar have the longest attacking 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, at over 3.5 seconds.
- The X-Bow, Mortar, and Princess are the only cards that can target Arena Towers without being targeted back by them.
- The X-Bow has the fastest hit speed of all cards in the game, at 0.3 seconds. This is also why the X-Bow deals the least amount of damage per hit of any card in the entire game, taking 2 shots to kill equally levelled 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.
- The X-Bow in Clash of Clans also has a faster attack speed and more health.
- It can shoot 100 bolts in its lifetime, dealing a total of 5000 hitpoints in damage at level 13.
- The X-Bow's description is a reference to an old meme known as "It would be a shame if something happened to it."
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