Balloon

Balloon is a 5-Elixir, single-model Epic air troop that flies at Medium speed toward the nearest enemy building (Crown Tower or defensive building), completely ignoring troops, and can only be engaged in return by units/spells/buildings that can target air. It has an unusually fast 0.2s first-hit speed, so it strikes almost the instant it comes into range instead of winding up for a full cycle, then hits every 2s for 640 damage (320 DPS) at level 11. On death it drops a bomb that detonates after a delay (currently 3s) for 240 damage in a 3-tile radius hitting both air and ground, letting it "guarantee" chip damage or clear a swarm even if shot down first. Its core weaknesses are that it can never be blocked or threatened directly by ground troops (they must intercept its path to a building, not fight it) and its slow, telegraphed final approach, which knockback effects such as Fireball can exploit to buy defenders extra time before it connects (a further claim that this specifically works as a "true stun" resetting Balloon's attack windup, distinct from a Zap-style pause, is unconfirmed). A separate Hero-tier variant, Hero Balloon (added Season 82, April 2026), keeps the 5-Elixir troop but adds an activatable "Coffin Cadets" ability that drops a Skeletrooper to dive-bomb a nearby ground target and then fights on afterward as its own persistent unit, at greatly reduced effectiveness against Crown Towers.

• At level 11, Balloon has 1,679 hitpoints and deals 640 damage per hit (320 damage per second) against buildings, with a 2-second hit speed but a fast 0.2-second first-hit speed, plus a 240-damage death explosion.

• Balloon costs 5 Elixir, deploys a single unit (x1) with a 1-second deploy time, is an Epic-rarity Air-transport troop with Medium speed (60) and melee range (0.1 tiles); it was released during Clash Royale's phased 2016 rollout — a regional iOS soft-launch on 4 January 2016 (Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, New Zealand; Android followed in the same countries on 16 February 2016) — ahead of the game's worldwide/global release on 2 March 2016.

• Balloon exclusively targets enemy buildings (Crown Towers and defensive buildings) — in plain terms it entirely ignores enemy troops and will fly past/over any non-building unit without attacking it, so ground troops cannot 'block' it, only intercept its path toward a building. As an Air unit, it can only be attacked back by troops, buildings, or spells capable of targeting air.

• Balloon's 0.2-second first-hit speed means it strikes almost immediately upon arriving in range of a building rather than winding up through a full 2-second cycle like a typical troop's opening attack — its first 640-damage hit lands only a fraction of a second after it reaches its target.

• Balloon's death mechanic is a bomb: when destroyed, after a delay it detonates for 240 damage in a 3-tile splash radius that hits both Air and Ground units — unlike its live attacks (buildings only), this death bomb can hit troops of any type caught underneath it, letting it 'trade up' or clear a swarm even after being shot down.

• On 15 December 2016, Supercell increased Balloon's death damage by 105% and expanded its death-damage explosion radius from 2 tiles to 3 tiles, explicitly so the death bomb would reliably 'kill Goblins and even Archers,' giving it a more consistent impact even when the Balloon itself never lands a live hit.

• On 30 March 2021, Supercell reduced Balloon's death damage by 27%, grouped with matching nerfs to Bomb Tower and Giant Skeleton's death bombs, on the grounds that 'Death Bombs have been a fixture in Clash Royale for a long time' and 'have reduced the skill cap of competitive play by providing a universal defensive solution.'

• In a February 2022 rework, Supercell cut Balloon's per-hit damage by 33% while increasing its hit speed by 33% (attacking faster) — same steady-state DPS, but split into more, smaller hits. Net effect: a single Balloon connection now does noticeably less burst damage (a nerf), while an uninterrupted, sustained Balloon push against a Tower deals more total damage over time than before.