Updated for Town Hall 18 (October 2026).
This is the starting point for attacking in Clash of Clans as the game stands today: how the two multiplayer modes work since the October 2025 rework, the habits that win attacks at any level, and what changes as you climb from Town Hall 1 to Town Hall 18. Strategy guides written in 2014 to 2021 assume paid troop training, fixed hero abilities and a single trophy ladder, and none of those are true anymore.
What changed for attackers since the old guides
If you are coming back after a break, four changes reshape how you attack:
- Training is free and instant. Training costs were dropped in June 2022, and the March 2025 “Clash Anytime” update removed training time and hero recovery time. Army Recipes arrived on March 27, 2025.
- Hero abilities became Hero Equipment in December 2023. Each hero carries two pieces of equipment, chosen before the battle.
- The Hero Hall replaced the hero altars in November 2024. You choose which heroes fight, up to four at a time.
- Since October 2025, trophies only move in Ranked Battles. Ordinary Battles are for loot and practice.
Battle and Ranked: the two multiplayer modes
Multiplayer was split in two on October 6, 2025. Which one you pick changes how carefully you should attack.
| Battles | Ranked Battles | |
|---|---|---|
| Unlocks at | Town Hall 2 | Town Hall 7 |
| Number of attacks | Unlimited | A fixed number per weekly tournament: 6 in the lowest leagues, more as you climb |
| Opponents | Matched by Town Hall level, with some variance | A group of up to 100 players in the same league |
| Skipping a base | Yes, tap Next as often as you like | No. You confirm your army, and once you enter, the attack counts |
| Trophies | None won or lost | Up to 40 per attack; all 40 only for three stars |
| Loot | Taken from the defender’s storages | Generated by the game; defenders lose nothing |
| Event and temporary troops | Allowed | Not allowed (also banned in Clan Wars and Clan War Leagues since TH18) |
How Ranked tournaments work
Each week you are placed in a group in your current league and attack bases from that group. Leagues are numbered and named after troops, from Skeleton 1 to 3 at the bottom through Barbarian, Archer, Wizard, Valkyrie, Witch, Golem, P.E.K.K.A, Titan and Dragon up to Electro 31 to 33, with Legend League above that. Legend League was split into Legend III, II and I in April 2026. Each Town Hall has a league floor, the lowest league a player at that level is placed in.
At the end of the week the top of the group moves up one league and the bottom moves down one. Trophies reset after every tournament, and ties are broken by average destruction on attack, then by how little damage you took on defense. If you upgrade your Town Hall mid-week, you jump to the new Town Hall’s league floor.
On defense, you pick a layout in the Defense tab and the game takes a snapshot of it at the start of the week. In that snapshot every trap is armed and every hero defends, even ones that are upgrading. The defender also gets whatever trophies the attacker did not take out of the 40, so a two-star at 73% earns the attacker 23 and the defender 17. Because attacks are limited and there is no Next button, scout before you confirm, and save your best army for Ranked.
Your league also raises the league bonus you get for winning in either mode, so climbing in Ranked pays off in regular Battles too.
How regular Battles work
Battles are where you farm. When someone raids you, you get an 8-hour Magic Shield, and attacking does not cut that Shield short. Revenge is back: for 12 hours you can attack a copy of a player who took a large chunk of your loot, and that copy holds at least what they took. Loot is reduced when you attack a lower Town Hall and boosted when you attack a higher one, and the Loot Cart now returns 10% of what you lost instead of 20%.
Attack fundamentals that still hold in 2026
Scouting
Before you drop anything, find four things: where the air or ground defenses you fear most are, whether the Clan Castle troops can be pulled out from an edge, which compartments will steer your troops the wrong way, and where traps are likely to sit. Turn on the setting that hides obstacles and decorations during attacks (added in October 2025) so trees and statues do not hide buildings. Also check the Crafting Station: its crafted defenses change every few months, so last season’s notes on a base may not match what you see.
The Spring Trap was reworked in October 2025. It now picks the single largest troop in range: troops small enough to launch are thrown out, and bigger ones are pushed back and damaged. Heroes and pets take half damage.
Funneling
A funnel means clearing the buildings on both edges of your entry point first, so the main army walks into the base instead of around it. A common rule is to clear both entry corners before the main push, and that applies at every Town Hall. Use small groups or a hero to take out the outside buildings on each side, wait until they are gone, then send the bulk of the army into the gap.
Spell timing
Spells dropped too early or in the wrong spot sink a lot of attacks. A few rules that hold up:
- Drop a Freeze Spell when your troops are already in range of the target, not while they are still walking.
- Cast a Rage Spell or Healing Spell slightly ahead of the group, where it will be in a second or two.
- When Wall Breakers cannot reach a wall, a Jump Spell or Earthquake Spell opens the way. Use Lightning Spells to finish off one dangerous defense before your troops arrive.
- Save a Poison Spell for defending Clan Castle troops once they are bunched up.
- React to what happens in the first seconds of the attack rather than following the plan you made in the scout.
Hero equipment choices
Each hero equips two pieces, unlocked and upgraded at the Blacksmith (Town Hall 8) using Shiny, Glowy and Starry Ore. Pieces are Common or Epic, and since June 2026 the Hero Journey track (TH7 and up) hands out Epic Equipment as well. Pick equipment for the job the hero has in your plan:
- A hero clearing one side of a funnel needs to survive. Healing and summoning pieces like the Archer Queen‘s Healer Puppet keep her alive longer.
- A hero that leads into the core wants damage-focused pieces; the Barbarian King‘s options include Earthquake Boots and Giant Gauntlet.
- The Grand Warden is a support hero. Save the Eternal Tome for the moment your army reaches the core.
- The Royal Champion targets defenses, which makes her a natural choice for a side charge with the Seeking Shield or Haste Vial.
With six heroes and only four slots, picking which four to bring matters as much as their equipment. At the top level, equipment choices often matter more than the exact army.
Siege machines and the Clan Castle
Your Clan Castle holds one Siege Machine from level 6 (Town Hall 10). At Clan Castle level 12 (Town Hall 16) it holds two, but you still deploy only one per battle, so you can pick after scouting. From Town Hall 12 you build your own in the Workshop. A siege machine carries your Clan Castle troops into the base, so the choice decides where they come out. Nine exist today, including the Wall Wrecker, Battle Blimp, Stone Slammer and Siege Barracks; the newest are the Troop Launcher (TH16) and the Sky Wagon (April 2026).
Clan Castle spells start at Town Hall 8. Since March 2025, donating troops costs the donor Elixir or Dark Elixir, and since the TH18 update, clans of level 7 or higher can donate one extra spell.
On defense, enemy Clan Castle troops can wreck an attack. Pull them out with one or two cheap troops near the castle’s edge, then kill them before they reach your main army.
Attacking at each Town Hall stage
The armies named below come from 2026 guides cited in each section. Use them as a starting point and choose the army for the base in front of you.
Town Hall 1 to 6
Ranked is locked, so everything happens in regular Battles and the Single Player Campaign. The Barbarian King now unlocks at Town Hall 4 with the Hero Hall, so you have one hero from early on. The basic plan is a tank in front and damage behind: Giants soak hits while Archers or Wizards shoot, and Wall Breakers open a path. Air attacks with Balloons only work once the Air Defense is down or distracted. Armies that work well: Giants and Archers at TH2 and TH3, Balloons and Archers at TH4, Giants with Wizards and Balloons at TH5, and a full Giant-Wizard ground push with Healing Spells at TH6.
Town Hall 7 to 9
Ranked Battles open at TH7. The Archer Queen arrives at TH8 along with the Blacksmith and Clan Castle spells, and the Minion Prince at TH9 together with a second hero slot. Learn to lure Clan Castle troops here, because it decides most attacks at these levels. Named armies in 2026 guides: Mass Dragons, GoWiPe (Golems, P.E.K.K.As and Wizards) and Mass Hog Riders, plus GoHo at TH8 and Witch Slap at TH9.
Town Hall 10 to 12
The Clan Castle starts holding a siege machine at TH10, the Grand Warden and a third hero slot come at TH11, and the Workshop at TH12. Town Hall weapons at TH12 to TH15 no longer have levels; since October 2025 they are maxed as soon as you reach them, so expect the full Giga Tesla on every TH12 base. Named armies: Queen Charge Hybrid, LavaLoon, Electro Dragons and Yeti Smash for TH10 to 13; Zap Dragons at TH10, Zap Witches at TH11 and DragBat at TH12.
Town Hall 13 to 15
The Royal Champion and the fourth hero slot arrive at TH13, the Pet House at TH14, and the Dragon Duke at TH15, which means you now have more heroes than slots. TH15 bases add the Spell Tower and Monolith, and in October 2025 five levels each for the King, Queen and Warden moved down from TH15 to TH14. Named armies: Yeti and Super Wizard Smash at TH13, Mass Dragons with a Battle Blimp at TH14 and Hydra at TH15; from TH14, Root Rider Smash, Super Yeti with a Royal Champion charge, and Hydra Air. Hydra is the triple air mix of Dragons, Balloons and Lava Hounds.
Town Hall 16 to 18
Expect merged defenses (Multi-Archer Tower and Ricochet Cannon from TH16, Multi-Gear Tower from TH17), the Inferno Artillery and an always-visible Giga Bomb at TH17, and Guardians in place of a Town Hall weapon at TH18: the Smasher and Longshot at launch, with the Logger added in April 2026. TH18 also brought the Totem Spell and made the Meteor Golem a permanent troop. The Clan Castle holds two sieges from TH16. Named armies in 2026 guides: Root Rider Smash, Super Yeti with a Royal Champion charge, and Hydra; Root Rider Yeti, Lalo (Lava Hound and Balloon) and Super Witch Slap at TH18; Root Riders with Valkyries at TH16, Dragons with Invisibility support at TH17 and an air slice at TH18.
Attack guides for each Town Hall
Full guides with army compositions, spell counts and step-by-step deployment: TH12, TH13, TH14, TH15, TH16, TH17, TH18. Below Town Hall 12, the armies in the stage sections above plus each Town Hall guide cover what you need.
Sources: Supercell release notes (Battle and Ranked modes announcement, Clash Anytime update, Town Hall 18 update, Sound of Clash update, May 2026 update, Anime Fury update) and in-game data.
