How to Use Royal Champion in Late Game Cleanup

Ever watched a near-perfect plan stall with 12% health left on a Scattershot, a hidden Tesla farm popping in the corner, and your timer flashing red? The Royal Champion exists to erase exactly those moments—if you sequence and path her right. This guide unpacks how to turn the Royal Champion into your most reliable closer, converting safe two-star plans into clinical triples.

Why the Royal Champion Is the Premier Closer

• Targets defenses first: She ignores trash buildings and goes straight for the structures that actually stop your cleanup—Teslas, Cannons, Archer Towers, Infernos, Scattershots.
• Wall-agnostic: She hops over walls, so you can deploy her from creative angles without burning extra spells or Siege support.
• Seeking Shield: Her ability instantly chunks up to four defenses anywhere along its path, often removing the exact anchors that keep a base alive.
• Flexible pet synergy: Diggy, Phoenix, and Frosty each solve a different late-game problem (stuns, survivability, and control).

Compared to the Barbarian King’s brute force or the Archer Queen’s precision, the Royal Champion’s speed, defense priority, and ability make her the most time-efficient endgame hero.

Know the Toolkit

• Targeting: Prioritizes defenses over all other buildings.
• Range and mobility: Short attack range but hops walls, letting you thread tight angles.
• Health and risk: Lower health pool than King or Queen. She melts to Singles, Monolith, and concentrated point defenses if untanked.
• Seeking Shield ability:
  • Jumps to multiple defenses, up to four hits, dealing fixed ability damage per hit.
  • Ignores walls and distance, allowing off-angle snipes.
  • Grants a burst of healing on activation and a brief speed increase, great for clutching under fire.

Tip: Because the ability deals ability-type damage (not standard DPS), it can finish high-HP defenses at low health without exposing RC to extra shots.

The Late-Game Window: How Much Time Do You Need?

A safe cleanup window for the Royal Champion is 35–60 seconds, depending on how many defenses remain and whether you have spells left.

• 60s: Comfortable if 7–10 defenses remain and you saved a Freeze or Rage.
• 45s: Standard for 5–8 defenses, especially if you can chain Seeking Shield to hit clustered targets.
• 30–35s: Emergency window; you must pre-read pathing and use ability with intent.

Time management rule: If 25% of the base’s defenses are still up with 45 seconds left, you likely need either the RC or a Siege on that side—do not rely on cleanup troops alone.

Scouting for a High-Value RC Path

Before you drop your first troop, mark the eventual RC route:

1. Identify back-end anchors:
   • Monolith, Scattershots, Multi Infernos, and Tesla farms.
   • Isolated X-Bows and Builder Huts healing a high-HP defense.
2. Trace two steps, not one:
   • Where does she walk after the first defense goes down? Will she drift into a Single Inferno or a pocket with two point defenses and a Ground Skelly trap?
3. Note trap likely spots:
   • Tesla farms in corners, behind Town Hall boxes, or near high-value compartments.
   • Ground Skelly traps near Scattershots and singles.
4. Decide pet now:
   • Diggy if you expect multiple hard defenses and want stuns.
   • Phoenix if the route is lethal but short—revive can finish two more defenses.
   • Frosty if point defenses stack up and you need slow plus frostmites to distract.

Spell Kit for Cleanup RC

• Freeze: The most valuable RC spell. One Freeze can save her from a Single Inferno or buy two extra shots into a Scatter.
• Invisibility: Strong for re-targeting the RC away from a death zone or to dodge a Monolith volley. Also isolates defense clusters for a safer shield line.
• Rage: Underrated. On a short back-end route, Rage can speed takedowns and help your RC chew through 4–6 defenses faster than waiting on ability.
• Skeleton: Great distraction for Singles or to pin down a Monolith while RC throws her shield.
• Poison: If you expect Headhunters or a Skeleton Trap cluster on the back end.

Do not rely on Heal for RC; Heroes don’t receive Heal spell effects. If you want sustained healing, that belongs to your Healers or Unicorn (usually busy elsewhere).

Pet Pairings That Win Clutch Endings

• Diggy: Best overall for endgame. Burrows to the targeted defense and stuns it on emergence. This converts lethal trades into safe picks and keeps Singles from ramping.
• Phoenix: If your route is short and brutal, Phoenix’s revive window lets RC finish one or two more key defenses after “death.” Great for last 10–15 seconds.
• Frosty: Slows point defenses and spawns frostmites that briefly distract. Ideal when you expect stacked Archer Towers and Cannons but no big boss defense.
• Poison Lizard: Niche when enemy heroes or CC troops live late; otherwise, it’s lower value than Diggy for cleanup.

Deployment Principles: Turning Pathing Into Progress

• Enter on a corner, not a wall: Deploy from the angle that minimizes lateral drift. RC prefers nearby defenses; edges give you control.
• Pre-tank if needed: A single Giant or an Ice Golem can absorb early shots, letting RC get started cleanly.
• Use trash buildings as guardrails: Because RC ignores them, removing outside trash before deploying her prevents accidental steps outward toward distant point defenses.
• Stagger shield, do not panic pop: If she is not under lethal beams, hold the ability to sequence four meaningful hits.

Ability Timing: Four Targets, One Win Condition

Use the Seeking Shield for one of these goals:

1. Finish clustered low-HP defenses: Ideal after your main army softens a Scatter farm or Tesla pocket.
2. Open a lane for cleanup troops: Remove two Archer Towers and a Tesla so Minions can cross a gap.
3. Save her from lethal beams: Pop when locked by Single or Monolith and you cannot Freeze; the burst heal can let her outpace incoming damage for a beat.
4. Force a base-wide chain: When defenses are spread, look for a line-of-sight chain that still hits four defenses. Don’t waste it on two unless time demands it.

Advanced tip: If the Town Hall is down and only defenses remain, sometimes popping early to remove Teslas prevents pathing chaos and buys more seconds than saving it for the last building.

Common Late-Game Threats and How to Beat Them

• Single Inferno: Freeze, Skeleton, or Diggy stun. If none are available, pop ability before final tick.
• Monolith: Respect its burst. Two Freezes or one Freeze plus a quick shield often beats it. Avoid tanking it head-on without spells.
• Multi Inferno with Builder Huts: The huts can undo two hits’ worth of progress. Prioritize ability if you can tag the huts in the line.
• Ground Skelly Traps: Poison if you have it; otherwise, a Baby Dragon or Wizard behind RC clears them. Frosty helps by pulling aggro.
• Tesla Farm: Ability here is value-dense. Pre-place a Minion to scout for hidden Teslas where possible.

Comp-Specific Cleanups: How RC Plugs Into Popular Armies

• Queen Charge Lalo: Save RC for the Scatter plus Tesla farm on the opposite side of the Lalo’s finish. Use one Freeze for a Single or Monolith that the RC must pass. The shield should clear the last air-targeting towers so Loons finish cleanup.
• Electro Titan Smash: Your smash often stalls on split Inferno islands. Drop RC on the outside flank after the core breaks; pair with Diggy to stun Multi Infernos and keep Titans from bleeding out.
• Hybrid: RC is the natural back-end finisher here. Enter her behind Hogs/Miners once they weaken line defenses. Use ability to delete corner Archer Towers and a hidden Tesla that would otherwise snipe Miners late.
• Sui Hero Lalo: If you invest King and Queen early, RC becomes your only endgame hero. Plan her route from the start and reserve at least one Freeze.

Step-by-Step Late-Game RC Sequence

1. Pre-plan the route: Mark 4–6 defenses you expect RC to take. Note lethal nodes.
2. Secure guardrails: Use initial army to remove trash buildings along her intended edge.
3. Pet choice: Diggy by default; Phoenix if route is short and deadly.
4. Spell reserve: Keep at least one Freeze for Singles, or an Invis to re-path.
5. Deploy with intent: Corner angle, optional tank, watch first retarget.
6. Evaluate drift: If she wanders toward a death pocket, Invis to snap path.
7. Ability timing: Aim for four meaningful hits; pop early only to beat lethal beams or to unlock a cleanup lane in time trouble.
8. Cleanup support: Add Minions, Archers, or a Baby Dragon to pick off trash behind her so the timer never becomes your enemy.

Practical Micro: Small Moves That Win Wars

• Pre-trigger Skelly traps: A single Hog or Barbarian ahead of RC can pull Ground Skellies so your Poison value is clean.
• Save a Wizard: Wizards behind RC erase the trash she ignores, maintaining time.
• Read Builder Hut healing: If a defense is being healed and you cannot shield it soon, switch target priorities with Invis or approach from a different angle.
• Count shots: If a Scatter needs two hits and a Cannon one, shield after the Cannon shot so the chain kills the Scatter without wasting time.

Case Studies

1. TH16 Titan Smash on anti two base

• Core is down, one Scatter plus Tesla farm remains.
• RC with Diggy enters at 2 oclock; use Freeze on Scatter once, Diggy stun hits, RC takes Scatter, shield deletes two Teslas and an Archer Tower, Minions sweep.
• Why it works: Diggy turns a dangerous Scatter duel into free damage; shield handles the farm instantly, minimizing time.

2. Sui Hero Lalo on box base

• King Queen take Eagle and warden side; Lalo handles Town Hall.
• RC holds until Loons rotate out of Warden aura. Drop RC to remove two Archer Towers and a Multi on the back side. Shield chains into Tesla farm.
• Why it works: RC removes last air-targeting nodes, giving Loons clean access to mop up.

3. Hybrid on ring

• Hogs and Miners make 70% progress but stall at Multi Inferno with Builder Huts.
• RC with Rage clears the pocket fast; shield finishes hut behind Multi.
• Why it works: Rage accelerates takedown in a zone where Freeze would only buy time.

Mistakes to Avoid

• Dropping RC into open trash fields: She wastes steps and loses tempo.
• Holding ability too long: If you die with shield unused, you misread lethal time.
• Ignoring trap density: Ground Skellies can freeze your RC for a full five seconds of lost DPS.
• Tanking Monolith face-first without a plan: Always Freeze, Invis, or shield proactively.

Quick Checklist Before You Hit Attack

• Do I know which four defenses I want the shield to hit?
• Which pet solves my specific back end—Diggy for stuns, Phoenix for revive, or Frosty for control?
• Do I have one spell reserved for the RC?
• Are the guardrails cleared so she does not drift?
• What is my timer threshold to deploy RC—60s, 45s, or emergency 35s?

Conclusion: Turn Safe Plans Into Confident Triples

The Royal Champion is the finisher that lets you dictate the last 45 seconds of a raid. If you pre-plan her path, pair the right pet, and protect her with one well-timed spell, she deletes the exact anchors that make good plans fall short. Start practicing with a simple rule: identify the four shield targets before you drop your first troop. Once you do, you will feel the endgame tilt in your favor—and those 98% heartbreaks will become clean, repeatable triples.