十字连弩

“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 high hitpoint building with very long range and moderate damage output. It appears to be a crossbow with wooden, stone, and metallic features along with a shining steel bolt for ammunition. An X-Bow card costs 6 Elixir to deploy.

Strategy[]

The 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 3 tiles from the river, cards with a 6 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 每秒伤害值 and lower overall damage over its lifetime makes it less threatening.
The Rocket is a decent counter to the X-Bow since they both cost 6 elixir and the spell can inflict massive damage to it, on top of also harming nearby enemy troops. However, this does not prevent the X-Bow from inflicting some damage so try to deploy a distraction card beforehand.
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. However, the player should avoid playing the Hog Rider close to the bridge, as it will jump. The X-Bow will not target mid-air Hog Riders. Air troops are also a good alternative as it cannot hit air. 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 or just tanks in general that deal moderately high 每秒伤害值 like the Knight can 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.
- The Mega Knight and P.E.K.K.A can easily decimate both the X-Bow and almost anything used to support it.
An X-Bow takes 3.5秒 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秒 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 place a 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（unless the spell is Earthquake）, 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 that have high health, 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 due to her great survivability.
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.
Having an area damage spell in hand when attacking with the X-Bow is very effective, as it can allow the player to defeat low or moderate-hitpoint troops nearly instantly, allowing it to lock onto a Crown Tower.
Conversely, having an area damage spell in hand when defending against an X-Bow is also effective. Due to the X-Bow's high Elixir cost, the units played alongside it are often of low Elixir cost and have low to moderate hitpoints, allowing the player to reap a large amount of spell value.

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 removed its ability to target air troops.
On 9/2/16, the Chest Rewards & Card Balance Update increased the X-Bow's deployment time to 5秒（from 3秒）.
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秒（from 5秒） and increased its hitpoints by 18%.
On 11/8/17, a Balance Update decreased the X-Bow's deploy time to 3.5秒（from 4秒）.
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 increased damage by 30%, reduced its hitpoints by 4% and its lifetime to 30秒（from 40秒）.

Trivia[]

The name "X-Bow" is a play on the word "Crossbow", which the device resembles. The letter "X" resembles a cross（十）, leading to this abbreviated name.
- In the Japanese and Korean localization of the game, the X-Bow is called the "Large Crossbow".
- In Chinese localizations of the game, the X-Bow is called the "Crossbow".
The X-Bow and the Mortar have 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, at over 3.5秒.
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秒 and has the lowest damage per shot amongst all cards at the same level.
The X-Bow is a reference to the eponymous building in Clash of Clans, also known for its extreme rate of fire.
- Similar to its COC counterpart in ground mode, the X-Bow cannot target aerial foes, but boasts massive range to compensate.
- Unlike the COC X-Bow, the CR iteration fires regular crossbow bolts instead of elixir bolts, has a slower rate of fire, and can only launch up to 100 bolts instead of 1500.
The X-Bow's description is a reference to an old meme known as "It would be a shame if something happened to it."
The X-Bow and the Goblin Drill are the only Epic buildings in the game.