“Three unarmored ranged attackers. Who the heck taught these guys to throw spears!?! Who thought that was a good idea?!”
The Spear Goblins card is unlocked from the Goblin Stadium (Arena 1). It spawns 3 very fast single-target, medium-ranged Goblins with low hitpoints and very low damage. They resemble normal Goblins, but are taller and thinner, have sharper elven ears, wear a team colored bandana, have a spear-case tied to their backs with a rope, and always have a wooden spear in their hands. They are the same as those spawned by the Goblin Hut, Goblin Gang and the Goblin Giant. A Spear Goblins card costs 2 Elixir to deploy.
Strategy[]
- Spear Goblins are a cheap method of providing both ground and air support while distracting grounded units, but the player should always keep in mind that they will be defeated in one shot by any damaging spell. Being overly reliant on them to defend or distract pushes can backfire if the opponent spells them immediately. The player should be aware of when the opponent can or can't quickly defeat Spear Goblins on their side of the arena.
- Mini tanks pair well with the Spear Goblins, allowing the swarm to more easily take out bulkier units or units that would otherwise one shot them, like a Baby Dragon.
- Compared to other cheap swarms like Goblins and Skeletons, Spear Goblins are better at stalling slow moving troops such as the P.E.K.K.A., as they will stay in place while continuously chipping it away at a distance.
- Due to their low Elixir cost, Spear Goblins are easily disposable and can be used to block an enemy Prince's charge. In fact, Spear Goblins, with the help of two Crown Towers, can take out a Prince. The player should place the Spear Goblins in the center of their side. When the Prince attacks the Spear Goblins, the second Crown Tower will also attack the Prince, taking him out.
- Spear Goblins can be good support troop for higher hitpoint troops such as the Giant, because for just 2 Elixir, they can deal considerable damage per second to any defending units. Also, they are not as susceptible to splash damage when supported behind a tank, unlike the Goblins due to their range.
- When playing Spear Goblins at the bridge in order to obtain chip damage on the opponent's Princess Tower, the player should place them in the bypass placement for ground troop. This will result in the second Spear Goblin to throw an extra spear before dying to the Princess Tower compared to any other placement.
- Spear Goblins combined with a Princess Tower's damage can prevent a Balloon from landing its powerful melee attack onto it, only letting the death damage slip by. This is not a bad trade, as the defender will be up 3 Elixir.
- Spear Goblins can prevent a lot of damage from a Graveyard, as one Spear Goblin can one shot a Skeleton, but their slow hit speed may cause them to stutter and allow some Skeletons to deal some damage to the Princess Tower, even with three of them.
- Zap and The Log are both extremely effective to eliminate opposing Spear Goblins due to the spells' equivalent Elixir costs of 2. However, the player should be cautious about when they use their spell, as the opponent may take advantage of this and bait out the Spell so they can safely deploy troops that would be more effectively countered by it, such as a Minion Horde or Goblin Barrel.
- They can tank three hits from a Valkyrie. By placing them almost horizontal to her, their triangular formation will cause the Valkyrie to only be able to take out one Spear Goblin at a time, buying the player's tower time to chip away at the Valkyrie.
- The Miner pairs well with the Spear Goblins on a counterattack, as the Miner's health pool will allow the Spear Goblins to rack up major damage if left unattended. It can be awkward to counter if the opponent does not have a cheap spell in hand.
- The Spear Goblins paired with Goblins can replicate the effect of the Goblin Gang for a slightly more expensive cost. However, there are more Spear Goblins than there are in the Goblin Gang, and their lower individual costs allow the player to defend more efficiently to several attacks (i.e, they are not forced to overcommit with 4 Elixir to a single attack, like with the Goblin Gang's 3 Elixir cost).
History[]
- The Spear Goblins card was added with Clash Royale's soft launch on 4/1/16.
- On 3/5/16, the May 2016 Update increased the Common card level cap to 13 (from 12). The update also fixed the "range bug", which decreased the Spear Goblins' range to 5 (from 5.5) but their effective range is unchanged.
- On 9/10/17, the Epic Quests Update increased the Spear Goblins' hit speed to 1.1 sec from 1.3 sec.
- On 25/4/18, the Clan Wars Update decreased the Spear Goblins‘ hit speed to 1.2 secs (from 1.1 sec).
- On 4/6/18, a Balance Update increased the Spear Goblins’ damage by 34%, but also increased their hit speed to 1.7 sec (from 1.2 sec) and made their first attack slower.
- On 2/6/20, a Balance Update gave the Spear Goblins a new 0.1 second deploy stagger from each other.
- On 27/10/21, the 2021 Quarter 3 Update increased the level cap of all cards to 14 (previously 13).
Trivia[]
- Spear Goblins are 1 of 8 cards associated with Goblins, with the others being Goblin Giant, Goblin Gang, Dart Goblin, Goblin Barrel, Goblin Hut, Goblin Cage, and Goblin Drill.
- Spear Goblins and Goblins are the cheapest Goblin-related cards, costing only 2 Elixir.
- Spear Goblins have the lowest damage per second of any ranged troop, with 63 at level 14 and 18 at level 1.
- The Star Leveled Spear Goblins gain a red mohawk, a reference to how Goblins gain mohawk at level 6 from Clash of Clans.
- The Spear Goblin is 1 of the 11 cards from Clash Royale to appear in Clash Quest, the others being the Fire Spirit, Bomber, Zap, Furnace, Fireball, Goblin Hut, Rocket, Baby Dragon, Prince, and The Log.
- Out of all 4 sets (16 individual) of Emotes with Goblins as a subject, 1 Emote has a Goblin wearing a bandana, and can be assumed to be a Spear Goblin.
