Supercell recently released a new challenge which revolved around the Royal Ghost, and let’s face it, The Royal Ghost is pretty Over-Powered, thanks to it’s invisibility and ambush based attacks, which just adds to his strong statistics, including damage, speed, and the ability to bypass air units when invisible. This essentially forces the enemy to use a ground troop to ‘confront’ him. When visible, however, the Royal Ghost can be attacked by air units. His outrageous quality has made many refer to him as the new ‘RG’ or the Royal Giant. Lucky for you guys though, I got you covered. In this article we will be covering the Royal Ghost basics and advanced mechanisms, including usage and counters. Let’s go.
Basics
The Royal Ghost is a very peculiar troop. It has to be used very carefully, in a way different from others. So the way you defend traditionally, by pulling the troops to the centre, will not work, as you wont be able to pull that knight into the centre. Ideally, you’ll want to deploy the ghost in front of the tower. This gives the tower time to smack down your opponents troop before your ghost engages, and unlike a knight, since the ghost spawns invisible, it can deliver that first attack without being seen , giving you the edge. Once he finishes a troop, it takes 0.7 seconds for him to become invisible again. Another extremely strong fact is that while invisible, balloon and Giant Skeleton bombs will NOT affect him. How strong is that?!. Thankfully, this is a bug and will be patched in the next client update, so benefit from this while you can. Even though the ghost is melee, his sword can reach farther, essentially allowing him to attack 1.2 tiles ahead. He has a splash radius, which will revolve around the centre of the unit which he hits, and not the troops around him, so if he hits a Sparky surrounded by a Skeleton army, he will only damage the troop near the centre of the Sparky. He has a 0.8 tile splash radius, which is very small.
He can 3 shot barbarians, but since his splash radius is small, he will only hit 2 or 3 of them at a time. On paper it sounds strong and it would’ve totally been had his splash radius been that of a dark prince.
Counters
Due to his invisibility, it is very hard to counter the Royal Ghost using traditional methods, and the cheap cost of 3 elixir doesn’t help either. Pulling the ghost to the centre using weak swarms does nothing as he will still remain invisible until he attacks, during which he will 1 shot the swarms like goblins. If you are using goblins or Guards, you should surround the Ghost, evading the splash damage mechanic. A lone Ice Golem will not help, as the RG will still get 3 hits on your tower. If you want to though, you must Kite the Royal Ghost into the other lane which will get him in range of both the towers. Knight Valkyrie are good if the Royal Ghost has locked onto your tower, as they will push him back enough for the towers to kill him. A Mini Pekka is a good counter to the Ghost, as it can 2 shot it. It is always better to place the troops right after a lone Ghost lands the first swing on the tower, as he wont get that invisible swing at your troop, and help you build up for a bigger push.
A Bowler can counter Pushes which include the Ghost as it will knock even an invisible ghost as long as it is in the ball’s path. An invisible Ghost can also be targeted by lighting, but is definitely not worth it. It can be one shot killed by a Rocket, but then again, it is a negative elixir trade. The Sparky can also one shot the Ghost, making her a decent counter, especially when the Ghost is behind a Tank, as the Splash will wreck him. Using a Tornado to activate the King’s Tower is always worth it during the first minute of the Match.
Strategies
One very interesting strategy which can be used with the Ghost is deploying an Ice Golem or Battle Ram just AFTER the Ghost, unlike the other way around traditionally. This way the Tower will lock on to the Supporting troop just before the Ghost becomes visible by attacking the tower.
The Ghost can 3 Shot “Fire-ballies”, which are units like barbarians, wizards, musketeer, among other. He can engage 2 musketeers at the bridge, kill them using his splash and still have enough health for a counter attack, dealing 460 damage to the princess tower if left alone.
He can one shot everything that the Log can, including, goblins, spear goblins, dart goblins, princess, ice spirit, fire spirit, without getting a flinch of damage. This makes him extremely Overpowered at a mere cost of 3 elixir. You can definitely expect a nerf once it is officially released into the game.
He can counter Witches better, as his splash damage will kill a witch and her skeletons in no more than 3 shots. I personally believe that The Royal Ghost will mark the end of the Knight meta, because at the same cost he is just so much better. His invisibility mechanic is going to revolutionize the Clash World. I think that he people who came up which such a concept have to be applauded, as it brings about a whole new dimension to Clash Royale, it’s meta and playing field.
That is it for this article. The Royal Ghost can be a menace, but I’m sure that this guide has got you covered. I hope you guys found it informative. If you have any feedback, questions, be sure to share it in the comments. Till next time, Cheers.
