Star-spangled knight

Offensive Melee Special

A strong melee attack unit - 185 attack ranks it among the hardest knights you can have in an attack wave. The price is paper-thin defense, so it only works as a pure attacker with support from units covering ranged fire. You can't recruit it from regular barracks, it appears in offers and rewards around Independence Day, so when it drops, take it and save it for big attacks.

185Attack

19Melee defense

5Ranged defense

28Speed

5Food upkeep

Quick overview

Type	Offensive, Melee
Source	Special
Game stage	Special
Cost	400
Recommendation	Rather yes

rating

Attack

Defensive

Cost

Speed

The Star-Spangled Knight is a pure melee attacker with 185 attack, which is a solid number for a knight. However, it comes with terrible defense - 19 against melee and only 5 against ranged. You take it for the attack and use it accordingly - it's useless in defense, and once it takes a hit, it falls among the first. It's a unit for the first attack wave, not for garrison.

How to use it

In practice, deploy it in the attack wave against enemy walls and camps where raw melee damage counts. 185 attack will punch through average defense well - against a standard defended castle or camp, it will do its job. Food consumption of 5 is fair for such a strong attack, so it won't drain your supplies as quickly as some other premium units. Speed 28 is average - comparable to regular infantry, slower than light cavalry, so don't expect it to arrive early and send it together with the rest of your army. If you're a new player and this unit drops from an event, save it for a proper attack, don't waste it on small raids.

What to combine it with

Combine it with attack ladders or battering rams so you have enough attack to break through walls. Since it won't defend anything on its own, put units with better melee defense and especially ranged defense in the same wave to catch fire from towers - otherwise your star knights will fall before they can strike. Target it where the enemy has weaker melee defense, not against maximally reinforced melee garrisons. And always send it with attack tools matching the wall defense (front/side), otherwise its attack will fail against the defense.

Weaknesses and what to avoid

Never put it in castle defense - defense of 19/5 is so low that an attacker will sweep it away and you'll just waste an expensive unit worth 400. Don't throw it against targets with heavy melee defense either, where its attack will fizzle and you'll lose a rare event unit - 185 is enough for average defense, not for maximally reinforced melee. Similarly, don't send it alone without units covering ranged attacks - it has only 5 defense against ranged, so towers will take it down almost for free.

Pro player tipStatistically it's one-to-one the same as Demonic Grin, just in American clothing for Independence Day - feel free to mix them together in a wave and count them as one unit. Before attacking, get a scout report and direct the knight to the side where the defender has the least melee defense; the difference between a good and wasted attack is made by choosing the gate, not the unit itself. Take the 35 loot per unit as a bonus, not as a reason to send it farming for resources.

Common mistakeA common mistake is throwing it into a castle garrison just because it's a 'strong knight'. 185 is attack, not defense - it's useless in defense and you'll just lose it unnecessarily. The second typical mistake is sending it without ranged cover: defense of 5 means defensive towers will shred it before it reaches the walls, and its big attack never gets to show.

Related units

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