Using sound on lured cogs exception

The sound gags are unique in that they affect all cogs at once in a battle, except for level 7 gags of any type and some lure gags (magnets) - but lure gags don't do damage directly. However, sound gags are relatively weak in the amount of damage they actually do individually.

Very typically, toons with sound can team up and use sound to literally blast their way through legions of high-level cogs. For level 11 cogs and below, two fog horns and two elephants will defeat them in one round.

However, for toons without sound gags, the alternative strategy is to use lure to immobilize them - that is, prevent them from attacking, allow time to heal and a safe opportunity to defeat cogs one at a time. The challenge is that sound gags "wake" lured cogs - all of them at once - effectively undoing what the lure gag did. Thus the rule of thumb "Don't use sound on lured cogs."

As with any rule, there are exceptions, and as with any exception, it is not widely understood - its not in the rule book.

Sound, as a gag, should generally be used when it can defeat a cog in one round - and that generally means all or most of the toons in a battle using sound in that round. If you are the only toon using sound and they are not defeated in that round, you will most likely be the target of all the cogs attack - and if you woke the cogs from their lured state, you'd also be the target of your battle-mates wrath. Exceptions abound, but let's focus on when to use sound.

Drop gags are relatively powerful for their respective levels, but are highly inaccurate. I've observed that at times, drop gags on solo battles are about 25% accurate - that is, only one in four will hit. Higher level drop gags get more accurate, but in general, it's likely to miss more often than not - unless the cogs is stunned. You can stun a cog with sound, throw or squirt gags in the same round. Oh, and drop never ever works with lured cogs. In order for drop to work on lured cogs, you have to wake them from their lured state.

When there are two or more lured cogs, and most of the toons want to use drop, the only way to wake all the cogs at once is with sound. This situation is rare - (thus, it is an exceptional condition). Say there are two lured cogs and three or more toons battling. Two or more toons want to use drop on both cogs. At least one toon needs to use sound to wake up both cogs and stun them for the drop gags to have any chance of hitting.