How do I counter xbows in Royale?

Question

I've thus far failed to create a strategy or card setup that does very well against xbows. It seems like they all bring zap or arrows in order to kill all of the small minions I throw in front of it.

Its' range is insane so no other building can hit it, and it always takes down my giants before they arrive!

What is considered the counterplay to xbows, or what are its' "weaknesses"?

John · Accepted Answer

I think that you can use the following strategies:

Attack the crossbow before it deploys. Stationary crossbows have a long deploying time, in which you can deploy a Mini P.E.K.K.A, Prince, a Musketeer, a Giant or any other fast/ranged/high-hitpoints unit to have enough time to get close and to destroy it.   
Use a long-ranged spell. You can use a Rocket, Poison, Ligtning or a Goblin Barrel to cause a lot of damage to it from a big range. Fireballs may work too.  You can also use Freeze to freeze the Crossbow for your troops to have more time to get close.
Let it destroy itself. (BUT ONLY it it's away enough from your towers) Buildings, including the Crossbows, slowly take damage over time and they destroy themselves at a certain point.

TwentyCharMax · Answer

A cross-bow's weakness would be probably to wait until a giant and another high health card (like the giant skeleton) summon them in at the same time and you should be good.
Also the cross bow dies overtime so a lightning spell might be good?

gatherer818 · Answer

John's first two strategies are solid for handling X-Bows - taking it down (or at least doing some damage to it) before it deploys is excellent, and spells can knock some duration off them as well (especially Goblin Barrels, since the goblins can keep hitting it until it deploys and shoots them).  But I strongly disagree with simply ignoring it - the amount of damage an X-Bow can do to a tower without the tower being able to counterattack is massive.

In place of that strategy, I recommend having a unit-producing card (Tombstone, Goblin Hut, or Barbarian Hut come to mind first) set out of range of the X-Bow, preferably BEFORE it finishes deploying (so that the "free" units can get the X-Bow's aggro before it focuses on your tower).  The produced units can keep distracting the thing to take pressure off your other attempts to shut it down and minimize the damage to your tower.  A Giant or other "tank" will work against it much better with swarm support, and the constant units-over-time is much more resistant against Arrows and other area denial than a Skeleton Horde or similar card would be.

Of special note, if you have one, a Witch is an excellent building-breaker, producing her own swarm over time and having a ranged area attack to help clear any support the opponent gives the X-Bow.

JohnFx · Answer

I like Giant for countering Cross-bows.

It targets buildings so it won't get distracted by all the low-cost troops most Cross-bow people throw out to distract a counter attack. Can be foiled by a well placed tesla though (common strategy)

It sucks up a lot of damage if you can get the bow to target it instead of your tower it is a good defensive play.

It deals a lot of damage, so it can smash the cross bow quickly.

The main downside of a giant is its slow speed, which shouldn't be a major factor since the bow will often be placed near the bridge to target the tower.

+1 elixir advantage if you can knock out the bow without support troops.

Be ready with a zap to counter-counter any swarms they throw at it and/or re-target the xbow if it locks onto your tower instead of the giant.

How do I counter xbows in Royale?

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