Mortar

"The Mortar can mow down hordes of enemies by the splash damage from its shell. Don't let enemies get too close to it!"


 * Summary
 * Mortars are the player's heavy defenses. Whenever an enemy comes into range, it blasts out an explosive shell with a low frequency "ping".
 * Mortars have high damage per attack, deal splash damage, and shoot an explosive shell every 5 seconds.  Their splash damage, combined with their long range, make them deadly weapons against large numbers of weaker enemies such as Barbarians, Archers or Goblins. Its major disadvantages are its inability to attack enemies at close range and its low rate of fire. (Tile range of "blind spot" is 4 tiles.)
 * Due to the fact that the Mortar's shell takes a long time to reach its target (over 1 second), fast troops like Goblins can easily dodge its attack if they are moving when the Mortar fires.
 * Mortars cannot target air troops.


 * Defensive Strategy
 * Mortars should usually be placed towards the center of your base, preferably behind at least one set of Walls. Its long range allows the Mortar to attack behind other structures. Since the Mortar deals heavy splash damage, it can quite rapidly eliminate attacking Troops; multiple Mortars ensure more destruction and damage. Take care when upgrading, as many players use this as a chance to attack. For this reason it is often a good idea to only upgrade one Mortar at a time.
 * At each level the Mortar can one-shot a similar-level Archer (at level 1 it can one-shot level 1 Archers, level 2 can one-shot level 2 Archers, etc.).
 * Putting a Mortar and Wizard Tower together makes a smart pair, because the Mortar covers a large area while the Wizard Tower helps protect the Mortar from mass air troops and covers the Mortar's blind spot.
 * It is a good idea to place Mortars near each other, without them being in the same cell if possible. When more than one Mortars' range overlaps, it creates a kill-zone where almost no ground troops can survive.
 * Offensive Strategy
 * The Mortar's blind spot, low rate of fire, and inability to target air troops makes them vulnerable to a wide variety of different attacks. Fast melee troops such as Barbarians or Goblins (after all resource structures are destroyed) can rush to the Mortar and quickly enter its blind spot. Archers can also be effective if they are positioned in a circle around the Mortar or if protected by a meatshield.
 * The Mortar's relatively low hit points makes it very vulnerable to Giants and Lightning Spells as well. Finally, their inability to target air troops makes Mortars easy pickings for Balloons, Dragons and Minions if they are not covered by Air Defenses.
 * When deploying Troops, try to avoid deploying ground troops in clumps. The Mortar does wicked splash damage.


 * Upgrade Differences
 * Mortars undergo significant visual changes at levels 4, 6, 7 and 8.
 * When initially constructed, the Mortar consists of a solid black launcher tube with two half-disc gimbals on each side. It fires a gray stone shell.
 * The level 2 and 3 Mortars grow larger and sport an increasingly larger gold trim on the outer rim of the tube.
 * At level 4, the Mortar's gimbals change to a bright golden color. Its shell changes to a black stone.
 * At level 5, the Mortars gold rim gets to its largest size.
 * At level 6, the Mortar's tube turns entirely golden. Its shell becomes a golden fiery ball.
 * At level 7, the Mortar's tube reverts to black with golden trim, but acquires a skull on each gimbal (which turn black as well) and bone fragments on the ground in front of it.
 * At level 8, the Mortar's color is metallic and inside the tube has fire. The golden fiery ball is bigger.


 * Trivia
 * There is an Achievement, called Mortar Mauler, achieved when you destroy a certain amount of Mortars on multiplayer.
 * The reason why the Mortar has such a low Damage per Second is because it is a slow firing turret.
 * Every time a Mortar shell hits the ground the screen shakes slightly.


 * Icons Description
 * - Pressing this icon displays information about the Mortar such as Level, Damage Per Second, Hitpoints, Range, Damage type, Targets and Favorite target.
 * - Pressing this icon upgrades the Mortar to the next level if you have enough resources and a free Builder.  When the Mortar is at maximum level this icon is not shown.
 * - Pressing this icon finishes an upgrade currently in progress by paying the displayed number of Gems.  This icon is only displayed while an upgrade is in progress.
 * - Pressing this icon cancels the upgrade currently in progress.  This icon is only displayed while an upgrade is in progress.