Clash is one of the most popular freemium games. It is made by Supercell. You can find the game in the iPhone and Android app stores, load it and run it for free. It runs on those two platforms; Android and iOS.
About My Village
My base is pretty strong defensively. Due to the change in the game released by Supercell on 10 Dec 15 I have pushed my trophy-count down abnormally low. I am currently trying to farm at a trophy level of 650 to 900. But each time I go offline on what is called a “Personal Break” I get attacked multiple times and gain several hundred trophies.
CoC Tools
I have collected a good deal of information about various “tools” that can be used with this application and I provide some thoughts on each, below. Most of this information I got by reading the forums and doing other on-line research about the various tools.
On 18 Apr 16 SuperCell announced a new program to stop modding and botting and be sure their users all have a “Fair Play” experience.
Gems
Gems are “in app purchased” in the game. It is now Supercell makes their money on the game. I am told that they have about a $1.5 million PER DAY revenue stream from selling gems. I have purchased gems several times. You really must if you want to grow your base to a high level. Some people seem to buy gems and upgrade their bases and their offensive troops a lot. The top players all seem to have all of the features at the highest level as soon as they are released in the game…which you can only do if you pay money for gems to make that happen.
Also, once a year Supercell offers a $5 promotion where you can make a donation to Red() and get gems to use in the game. In 2015 this was only offered on the iOS version of the game.
Mods
Mods, short for “modifications”, are hacks to the CoC game code on Android. I have done very limited research here. Apparently mods let you change the way the game searches for opponents to attack, can show you hidden defenses before they normally become seen, and might help you “steal” resources from the game itself. There is a tool used called “xmodgames”. I’ve read that you have to root your Android device to use these mods, which probably breaks the warranty on your Android phone and might open it up to malware attacks. Sorry, I have limited information here. Here’s a link to a CoC mod site, but my Norton SW flagged it as an attack web page: http://apkhouse.XXcom/clash-of-clans/. I added the “XX” so the link is broken…if you want to take your chances and go there, good luck. J If you’re still interested in this subject, here’s a YouTube video I found on the topic that you can watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zpenVdgJLE. I know very little about this topic since there doesn’t seem to be great data about this for research.
Bots
Bots are tools that play the game for you when you are away. Essentially they try to do simple attacks for you to steal loot from other bases. They are ill equipped to attack high level bases with strong defenses. They are most successful at attacking “dead bases”. The definition of dead bases varies from bot to bot, but essentially it is a base with lots of loot in its gold mines, elixir extractors, and dark elixir drills. Often, dead bases have defensive elements (cross bows, inferno towers, and traps) that are empty or not armed. So the attacks focus on hitting the extractors to collect all of the loot in them. Bot also build armies, usually to your custom specification, and use those armies in the farming attacks.
Since the Dec 2015 update of Clash of Clans by Supercell the value of these bot tools has diminished greatly. There is just not the same number of dead bases there use to be, and the bases that are offered to attack for farming are much more comparable to my own base. You can see their user forums being full of complaints and gripes about lack of value in the botting tools. In short, it’s harder to raise loot for free, and the bots spend as much loot looking for bases to attack as they return. The botting world is going to have to change to find a way to do stronger and better attacks, or will likely die for lack of value. The group appears to know this, and suspects that Supercell created the update to help crush bot-farming.
Here is a set of data (my opinions and conclusions from the reading, for the most part) about various bots that I have discovered and researched:
MyBot.Run
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Site URL |
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Cost |
Free |
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My Overall Rating |
Very good |
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Pros |
Open source product Easy to configure Feature rich |
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Cons |
Poor documentation Slow getting new game upgrades supported. (This is understandable since the developers work for free, but that understanding doesn’t the users.) Some features just don’t work and there is no commitment out of the development team to make them work on any time frame. Their site claims that many sites have ripped off and are reselling the open source code base. This appears to be a valid claim. See their article on this topic. |
RaccoonBot
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Site URL |
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Cost |
There is a limited feature free version that might work well for basic farming with basic troop configurations €27 for 3 months for the “full feature” version. Other terms for more and less money per day. |
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My Overall Rating |
Good |
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Pros |
The free version of the game lets you get your feet wet. |
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Cons |
Many features are not available in the free version. Some features don’t work in the paid version. And you can’t get a refund for the payment when you find out about what doesn’t work. And you can’t find it out until you pay. Catch-22. Pretty limited set of configuration features, limits granular control of what the bot will do. Poor recognition of characters in clan chat troop requests. “Golem” seen as “G lem” and “wizard” as “w zard”, etc. Support staff says this is not a problem On-line support staff seems more defensive than helpful. Overall poor documentation Pretty slow release cycle |
LazyPressing
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Site URL |
http://www.lazypressing.com or http://www.lazycoc.com Tricky download. Use this link, I think (though it’s probably dated). |
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Cost |
$9 per month. Cheaper for longer commitments |
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My Overall Rating |
Good. |
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Pros |
This is an identical code base to ClashAuto. The same guy runs both sites. The only difference is the price. The owner claims that LazyPressing is for the Asian market, not US/Europe. He claims that the support site for LazyPressing is less robust. |
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Cons |
Moderately difficult to configure Poor documentation The guy running the site has been is a bit prickly in response to suggestions or questions. While I understand that he has a business to protect, he’s running a kind of funny “dual business model” between ClashAuto and LazyPressing and they have different pricing structures for the same product. |
ClashAuto
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Site URL |
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Cost |
$20 per month. Cheaper for longer commitments |
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My Overall Rating |
Poor. Costs too much. If you want to go this way, go with LazyPressing…same code, lower price. |
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Pros |
Staff gets new versions out quickly, and the new versions are the most functional quickly. Has a well maintained and active user forum. |
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Cons |
Moderately difficult to configure Poor documentation The guy running the site has been is a bit prickly in response to suggestions or questions. While I understand that he has a business to protect, he’s running a kind of funny “dual business model” between ClashAuto and LazyPressing and they have different pricing structures for the same product. Recent posts from the site staff that seem angry toward their own customer community |
ClashFarmer
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Site URL |
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Cost |
There is a free version with limited functionality. The Premium version cost $7.99 (last time I checked) for a “lifetime subscription”. |
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My Overall Rating |
Very Poor |
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Pros |
Free version lets you get started with botting for free and it has a limited basic feature set. |
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Cons |
Up through version 1.07p this company was ripping off and charging for the open source MyBot.Run product (below). They were adding no value to the open source code base, as far as I could tell. As of their version 1.8 they have come out with what appears to be a new version. It has far less functionality, and is full of bugs. I don’t know how they keep their user base interested in their product. Has become extremely limited in the features it provides. Since ClashFarmer seems to be starting over at v1.8 (moving away from the open source version) this is to be expected. It is not clear that they will ever again match the feature set of MyBot.Run. In my opinion they would be better off supporting the open source MyBot.Run code base and finding a way to sell added value. |
Web site by Arch. Contact me with any questions or comments. Last updated 21 Apr 16.