What Is the Root Rider?
The Root Rider is a Dark Elixir troop that unlocks at Town Hall 13. Its defining ability: it completely ignores walls. Root Riders path directly through wall segments to reach defenses, making every wall in the base effectively non-existent for their movement.
This one mechanic changes the fundamental logic of base design. At TH12 and below, wall compartments are a major defensive tool — a well-compartmentalized base forces attackers to use Earthquake Spells, Log Launchers, or Wall Breakers to breach each layer. Root Riders eliminate this friction entirely.
How Root Riders Work
Wall Bypass Mechanic
Root Riders do not jump walls (like Hog Riders) — they pass through them as if they don’t exist, targeting defenses directly. This is different from:
- Hog Riders: Jump over walls to reach defenses, but walls still define their pathing around them
- Root Riders: Walls literally do not affect their movement path
A Root Rider will walk through three wall layers, ignoring each one, to reach the Air Defense on the other side.
Targeting Priority
Root Riders target defenses in order of proximity, same as Hog Riders. They will path to the nearest defense and destroy it before moving to the next.
Tornado Trap Immunity
Root Riders are immune to Tornado Traps. Tornado Traps pull regular troops toward them, disrupting pathing in critical areas of TH13–15 bases. Root Riders’ wall-bypass behavior overrides Tornado Trap pulling. This makes them uniquely effective on bases that use Tornado Traps to redirect Hog Riders and Witches.
Stats at Key Levels
| Level | Unlock TH | HP | DPS | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TH13 | 1,200 | 180 | Functional but fragile |
| 3 | TH13 | 1,500 | 210 | Comfortable in standard compositions |
| 5 | TH14 | 1,850 | 250 | Survives through 2–3 defenses |
| 7 | TH15 | 2,200 | 295 | Full meta viability |
| 9 | TH16 | 2,600 | 340 | Dominant, clears most defenses solo |
Level matters significantly. A level 1 Root Rider dies to Scattershot and Eagle Artillery fire quickly. Level 5+ Root Riders can sustain through multiple defenses and reach compartment interiors reliably.
Primary Strategy: Root Rider + Super Witch
The dominant TH13–15 meta combination. Root Riders open wall compartments and destroy Tornado Traps; Super Witches generate Big Boy skeleton tanks behind them.
Why They Pair So Well
Super Witches struggle against:
- Tornado Traps — redirect Big Boy skeletons into kill pockets
- Sealed compartments — Big Boys can’t breach walls, so they accumulate at wall edges
Root Riders solve both:
- They destroy Tornado Traps when pathing through them
- They open wall layers that Big Boys can then flood through
Troop Composition (TH13)
| Troop | Count |
|---|---|
| Root Rider | 5–7 |
| Super Witch | 4–5 |
| Witch | 2 |
| Super Barbarian (funnel) | 4 |
Spells: Rage × 2, Freeze × 2, Earthquake × 1, Poison × 1
Siege: Log Launcher
Execution
- Lure CC. Always first.
- Log Launcher targeting the Eagle Artillery lane.
- Root Riders fanned wide behind the Launcher — 5–6 tiles apart. They’ll immediately begin phasing through walls to reach defenses.
- Super Witches deployed once Root Riders are through the first wall layer — the Big Boys now have cleared lanes to follow.
- Warden walks behind the main cluster.
- Rage on the Scattershot cluster when Root Riders approach it.
- Freeze on Scattershots locking onto Big Boy concentrations.
- Royal Champion (if TH13+) on the opposite side.
Root Rider Funneling: Key Technique
Root Riders don’t auto-funnel perfectly. If you drop them without preparation, they may path sideways along the base edge instead of inward.
Proper deployment:
- Use Super Barbarians or Baby Dragons to destroy 2–3 outer corner buildings on the entry side
- Deploy Root Riders between those destroyed buildings — with nothing on the flanks, they path directly inward
- Fan them 5+ tiles apart so they hit different defenses rather than all converging on one
Common mistake: Dropping Root Riders in a cluster. They all target the same defense, die together, and then the Super Witch follow-up has no cleared lanes.
Strategy 2: Root Riders + Hog Riders (TH14–15)
At higher TH levels, Root Riders combine with Hog Riders for a fast, comprehensive ground clear.
Root Riders open wall compartments; Hog Riders follow through the openings with their jump mechanic. The result: Hog Riders that would have been stopped by wall compartments now have clear lanes to defenses they couldn’t previously reach.
Composition (TH14):
| Troop | Count |
|---|---|
| Root Rider | 6–8 |
| Hog Rider | 16–20 |
| Witch | 2 |
Spells: Heal × 2, Rage × 1, Freeze × 2, Poison × 1
This is a faster but riskier strategy than Root Rider + Super Witch. Higher skill ceiling, higher 3-star rate on well-executed attacks.
Upgrading Root Riders: Priority
At TH13: Upgrade Root Riders in the Laboratory as soon as you unlock them. Even one level of upgrade meaningfully improves their survivability against Scattershot fire.
At TH14–15: Root Riders should be one of your top 3 Laboratory priorities alongside Hog Riders and Super Witches.
Level milestones:
- Level 3: First meaningful HP/DPS jump — 25% tougher than level 1
- Level 5: Can survive a Scattershot burst without dying instantly
- Level 7+: Consistently reaches core defenses on TH15 bases
Common Root Rider Mistakes
Dropping them in a pile. All path to the same defense, die together, and no lanes are opened for the follow-up army. Fan them across 20–25 tiles.
Deploying without funnel. Without corner buildings cleared, Root Riders path sideways along the base perimeter. Always pre-funnel with Super Barbarians.
Using them against bases with no wall compartments. Root Riders’ wall bypass is useless on TH9–10 style “open” bases with minimal compartmentalization. Save them for TH13+ heavily compartmented war bases.
Wasting Earthquake Spells when you have Root Riders. Earthquake + Root Riders is redundant. Root Riders make wall breaching spells unnecessary — replace Earthquake with an extra Freeze or Rage.
Leaving them at level 1 for months. Level 1 Root Riders die to Scattershot in 3–4 shots. Upgrade them within the first month of TH13.
